Medical school assessments

Quality Assurance of European University, Tbilisi, Georgia

GMCSI carried out a quality assurance review of the medical doctor education programme at European University in Tbilisi, Georgia, supporting the university to benchmark its programme against internationally recognised quality assessment standards of medical education.

The review followed the GMCSI’s established quality assessment methodology, including:

• the completion of a self-assessment questionnaire
• a documentation review
• an on-site visit to meet with the leadership team, faculty and students.

The subject matter experts captured their findings into a final report shared with European University that highlighted where standards are being met and where improvements could be made.

European University were delighted with the project and on completion shared the following feedback with GMCSI:

‘It has been a privilege to undergo evaluation by the esteemed General Medical Council of the United Kingdom. The comprehensive and rigorous nature of the assessment has provided invaluable insights, which will undoubtedly contribute to the ongoing enhancement of our medical school's academic standards and global engagement’.

Medical School Assessment, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

GMCSI conducted a medical school assessment of the Fakeeh College for Medical Sciences (FCMS) based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The project team benchmarked their delivery of under-graduate medical education against UK standards. This follows the same process used for UK medical schools. This was done by assessing their delivery standards using the GMC’s outcomes-based education standards “Promoting excellence”.

The project team, consisting of GMC subject matter experts and medical education associates conducted desktop reviews before conducting an onsite visit at FCMS. The visit included interviews with FCMS’s leadership team, faculty and students. FCMS’s standards were very high and the team were impressed with the delivery of their under-graduate programme for medical doctors.

A certificate was awarded to FCMS to acknowledge their high standard of under-graduate medical education. This was signed by both GMCSI and the GMC.

Professor Mohammed Ardawi, Dean of FCMS, was delighted with the outcome:

‘Thank you very much from the bottom of my heart for your professional help and support through the recognition journey and the support of your team too. I look forward to meeting you in KSA or in the UK in the coming period for future endeavours to help promoting medical education in Saudi Arabia and beyond’.

Medical School Assessment for the Armed Forces College of Medicine, Egypt

We conducted a medical school assessment of the Armed Forces College of Medicine (AFCM) based in Cairo, Egypt.

The assessment was carried out in a similar way to the assessment of medical schools in the United Kingdom. With local context and legislation being taken into consideration we agreed the project scope and AFCM submitted their documentation for review.

We reviewed the documents using the five key themes outlined in Promoting excellence:

• Learning environment and culture
• Educational governance and leadership
• Support for learners
• Support for educators
• Development and implementation of curricula and assessments.

The team travelled to Egypt to meet with key AFCM stakeholders. They confirmed that AFCM were delivering a high standard of medical education, equal to the standards used to assess medical schools within the UK. A certificate to confirm the high standards of medical education was awarded to AFCM. 

Training of Medical School Assessors for the Indonesian Accreditation Agency for Higher Education in Health

We trained medical school assessors who conduct on-site medical school evaluations. This training programme takes an interactive and engaging approach, teaching assessors:

• how to form effective evaluation teams
• how to evaluate submitted documentation
• interviewing skills and techniques
• report writing

These are necessary components of conducting a medical school assessment. This training has enabled medical school assessors to conduct effective medical school assessments within their countries.

GMCSI has also conducted a Train the Trainer programme. Medical school assessors are trained to improve the skills, processes and report writing capabilities of other medical school assessors who are working across the region.