Sharing Global Perspectives on Medical Education

On the 6th June 2019, UCL Medical School (UCLMS) welcomed the Thai Medical School Executive (MSE) group to UCL. The delegation, representing all medical schools in Thailand, as well as their major teaching hospitals, consisted of 42 senior leaders in medical education. This meeting grew out of an existing academic collaboration between UCLMS and the Chulabhorn Royal Academy.

The Consortium of Thai Medical Schools coordinates the MSE programme as a month-long training programme for senior leaders. The programme is led by Professor Pongsak Wannakrairot, who described how the programme aims to share experiences and build new relations with other Medical Schools around the globe. Reflecting on the outcomes of the meeting with UCLMS, Professor Pongsak noted: “We have seen how UCL manage their education and produce very competent doctors. It is very impressive that we see these successful stories. We see how you manage the medical school and realise it is not only the undergraduate education, but includes the Medical School Education Consultancy (MSEC) and other departments that is the background to the success of the UCL doctors. Students cannot just be a clinician or teacher, they have to learn about many things and I think this is very important and a very good opportunity for them to learn this.” 

Professor Claudio Stern, Pro-Vice-Provost (South East Asia and Australasia) opened the Symposium. Professor Ann Griffin led presentations from the four departments of the Medical School: the MBBS unit, the Postgraduate Medical Education unit (PGME), the Medical School Education Consultancy (MSEC) and the Research Department of Medical Education (RDME).  The presentations focused on how the units provide the highest quality education which champions the student experience and UCLMS’ commitment to knowledge transfer and educational research.

Professor Stern noted: “It is a great honour and a pleasure for UCL to host this conference on Medical Education. UCL is deeply committed to excellence in medical education, including exploiting the richness of the scientific method and rigorous evidence-based decision making in the training of future doctors and clinician-scientists who will be tomorrow’s leaders. It is also a particular pleasure to engage with our Thai colleagues who constantly demonstrate their keen ambitions and honesty alongside a high level of sophistication in everything they do. We have much to learn from each other.”

Professor Griffin remarked: “We were deeply honoured to be able to welcome such esteemed colleagues to UCL and to share with them the ground breaking work of the medical school. The symposium was an outstanding success. We were able to share with each other ideas and ambitions for the future of medical education and I sincerely hope that this meeting marked the beginning of those valuable discussions.”

Participants of the programme commented: “We are very grateful to Professor Ann Griffin and to UCL for their teamwork, making this a wonderful symposium.  We have learned a lot today; not only in relation to undergraduate education but also what we as Medical Schools can do beyond that. There are more opportunities and we can collaborate. As you said, UCL is London’s global university and together with this collaboration I believe that we can create a better medical education that can benefit both local and global communities.” Assistant Professor Dr Thanyaphong Na Nakorn, King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang.

Image: Professor Claudio Stern and Professor Ann Griffin (UCL), Professor Pongsak Wannakrairot (Consortium of Thai Medical Schools) joined by the Thai Medical School Executive delegation, UCL Medical School faculty and invited guests.
Photograph: Susan Smart, UCL Health Creatives.