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Abdalla, M. E., & Taha, M. H. (2020). Improvement of the Medical Education Situation in Sudan: Collegectomy is Not the Only Management Option. Sudan Journal of Medical Sciences (SJMS), 15(1), 85–90. https://doi.org/10.18502/sjms.v15i1.6708
https://doi.org/10.18502/sjms.v15i1.6708
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Mohamed Elhassan Abdalla
Mohamed Elhassan Abdalla
Medical Education Centre and College of Medicine, University of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
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Mohamed Hassan Taha
Mohamed Hassan Taha
Medical Education Centre and College of Medicine, University of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
Published Date
- Mar 31, 2020
Improvement of the Medical Education Situation in Sudan: Collegectomy is Not the Only Management Option
Abstract
Sudan witnessed an increase in the number of colleges of medicine after the higher education revolution in the early 1990s. Many authors writing about medical education, both in Sudan and across the world, have described a negative correlation between the increased number of medical colleges and the quality of education provided by those colleges. Many educational leaders in Sudan are calling for action to deal with the issues arising from this great expansion of medical colleges, with opinions varying from collegectomies (closure of the colleges) to merging colleges.
Several strategies have been implemented in Canada, Iran, the Philippines and South Africa to deal with similar situations. These have included college support such as funding or technical support, changing the colleges’ educational strategies, modifying the curriculum, integrating (rather than merging) colleges, and collegectomies.
This paper outlines possible actions to be taken in response to the expansion of medical colleges in the Sudanese context. It explores the international experience with the situation in an attempt to augment the discussion with options that may help to improve medical education.
Keywords: collegectomy, medical education, Sudan, social accountability
References
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2. Al Sadig Al Mahdi, T. (2019). Overview of the course of undergraduate medical education in the Sudan. Sudan Journal of Medical Sciences, vol. 14, no. 4, pp. 188–201.
3. Ahmed, A. M. (2012) Medical education in Sudan: emerging issues and acute needs. Sudanese Journal of Public Health, vol. 7, no. 2.
4. Tekian, A. and Almazrooa, A. A. (2011). Does Saudi Arabia need an Abraham Flexner? Medical Teacher, vol. 33, no. 1, pp. 72–73.
5. Benor, D. E. (2014). A New paradigm is needed for medical education in the mid-twenty-first century and beyond: are we ready? Rambam Maimonides Medical Journal, vol. 5, no. 3, e0018.
6. Abdulrahman, K. Bin. (2011). Saudi Arabia does not need an Abraham Flexner. Medical Teacher, vol. 33, no. 1, pp. 74–75.
7. Sjöström, H., Christensen, L., Nystrup, J., et al. (2019). Quality assurance of medical education: Lessons learned from use and analysis of the WFME global standards. Medical Teacher, vol. 41, no. 6, pp. 1–6.
8. Hays, R. (2007). Community-oriented medical education. Teaching and Teacher Education, vol. 23, no. 3, pp. 286–293.
9. Păunescu, C., Drăgan, D., and Găucă, O. (2017). Examining obligations to society for QS Stars best ranked universities in social responsibility. Management & Marketing, vol. 12, no. 4, pp. 551–570.
10. Budhathoki, S. S., Zwanikken, P. A. C., Pokharel, P. K., et al. (2017). Factors influencing medical students’ motivation to practise in rural areas in low-income and middle-income countries: a systematic review. BMJ Open, vol. 7, no. 2, e013501.
11. Techakehakij, W. and Arora, R. (2017). Rural retention of new medical graduates from the Collaborative Project to Increase Production of Rural Doctors (CPIRD): a 12-year retrospective study. Health Policy and Planning, vol. 32, no. 6, pp. 809–815.
12. Boelen, C. (2018). Coordinating medical education and health care systems: the power of the social accountability approach. Medical Education, vol. 52, no. 1, pp. 96–102.
13. Hays, R. B., Strasser, R. P., and Sen Gupta, T. K. (2019). Twelve tips for establishing a new medical school. Medical Teacher, pp. 1–5. DOI: 10.1080/0142159X.2019.1571570
14. World-Federation-for-Medical-Education. Criteria for a new medical school [Internet]. Criteria for Establishment of a New Medical School. 2016 [cited 2020 Jan 21]. Available from: https://wfme.org/home/projects/criteria-for-a-new-medical-school/
15. WHO. (2019). Global status report on alcohol and health 2018. WHO.
16. Murray, R. B., Larkins, S., Russell, H., et al. (2012). Medical schools as agents of change: socially accountable medical education. Medical Journal of Australia, vol. 196, no. 10, p. 653.
17. Strasser, R., Hogenbirk, J. C., Minore, B., et al. (2013). Transforming health professional education through social accountability: Canada’s Northern Ontario School of Medicine. Medical Teacher, vol. 35, no. 6, pp. 490–496.
18. Kwizera, E. N. and Iputo, J. E. (2011). Addressing social responsibility in medical education: the African way. Medical Teacher, vol. 33, no. 8, pp. 649–653.
19. Woollard, B. and Boelen, C. (2012). Seeking impact of medical schools on health: meeting the challenges of social accountability. Medical Education, vol. 46, no. 1, pp. 21–27.
20. Borrinaga, R. O. and Tantuico-Koh, I. (1995). The roles of the UP Manila–School of Health Sciences (UPM-SHS) in health sector reform in the Philippines. In: Regional Conference on Health Sector Reform in Asia.
21. Siega-Sur, J. L., Woolley, T., Ross, S. J., et al. (2017). The impact of socially-accountable, community-engaged medical education on graduates in the Central Philippines: implications for the global rural medical workforce. Medical Teacher, vol. 39, no. 10, pp. 1084–1091.
22. McGregor, M. J. and Sloan, J. (2014). Realigning training with need: a case for mandatory family medicine resident experience in community-based care of the frail elderly. Canadian Family Physician, vol. 60, no. 8, pp. 697–699.
23. Barr, H., Koppel, I., Reeves, S., et al. (2008). Effective interprofessional education: argument, assumption and evidence (promoting partnership for health). John Wiley & Sons.
24. Tresilian, F. (1997). The reform of medical education in Iran. The BMJ, vol. 1, no. 3032, p. 172.
25. Cooke, M., Irby, D. M., Sullivan, W., et al. (2006). American medical education 100 years after the Flexner report. The New England Journal of Medicine, vol. 355, no. 13, pp. 1339–1344.