DOHA: The College of Medicine at Qatar University (CMED-QU) has collaborated with a US-based organisation which evaluates healthcare professionals.
The National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) will support CMED-QU in aligning its standards with those of the US by leveraging CMED’s student assessment system, supporting the establishment of a CMED student examination items bank, and conducting regional benchmarking studies on test design.
The agreement was signed by Dr Egon Toft, Vice-President for Medical Education, QU; and Dr Donald E Melnick, President, NBME.
Dr Brownell Anderson, Vice-President for International Programme, represented NBME.
As a first step in what is aimed to be a long-term collaboration, a team of specialized experts from NBME, will engage CMED faculty and administrators in various activities that aim to further enhance medical education and establish an assessment system that maximizes the quality of the College’s graduates. The college’s curriculum and current assessment framework will also be reviewed by the NBME team to ensure their alignment with international standards. College administrators will be provided with recommendations on a range of topics including possible curriculum revision; timing and nature of locally-developed assessments; the most appropriate use of the portfolio of NBME assessment instruments available to North American and International medical schools; potential NBME assistance on the development of assessments to meet the needs of CMED curriculum, and development of an item bank.
Recommendations will also be made on development of faculty expertise in teaching, curriculum design and design, construction, and interpretation of valid and reliable formative and summative examinations.
Prof Hossam Hamdy, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, CMED, said, “The College of Medicine’s focus on quality, safe medical practice and optimal patient care is in line with NBME’s mission to “protect the health of the public through state of the art assessment of health professionals”. Based on the US Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) introduced by NBME in 1992, the College prepares its students for this and similar international licensing exams to ensure that the quality of its graduates is aligned with the best international standards in medical practice. This agreement is an important step for the College’s development and progress as Qatar’s first national medical college and its stated ambitions towards a knowledge-based economy.”
The Peninsula
