Assessment of Medical Schools: Who cares?

Abstract

BACKGROUND: There are nearly 2,000 medical schools in the world with the number increasing every year. The demand for medical school admissions remains intense all over the world. A modest objective of every medical school is to train ‘tomorrow’s doctors’ who are sufficiently competent to practice in their locality and country; and continue to keep up with the professionalism and progress in medicine as a matter of professional development. Medical education has also become an industry with some schools acting as a factory of medical graduates who could get through exams to obtain training and jobs elsewhere. There is, however, fairly useful information in the public domain, mainly through the internet, about the large number of medical schools documenting qualification of faculty, appropriate facilities, admission criteria, assessment and evaluation practices, environment for education and research; and a network of hospitals and community practice establishments. Medical students’ websites also provide interesting and valuable evaluation of medical schools based on track record, teaching excellence, clinical expertise and career prospects. The author will highlight what instruments are currently used and are effective in the assessment of medical schools.