Chair: Tianwei Ellen Zhou, MD, PhD
Department d'ophtalmologie, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada
Starting April 2019, this special column is dedicated to medical education. Our goals are simple: 1) to bring together discussions on challenges, innovations and research in medical education; 2) to compare and contrast medical education systems around the world; and 3) to learn from each other andto achieve continuous improvement. We welcome diverse topics of discussions that include theoretical and/or practical facets of education, health and science policy, institutional values, research practice, clinical practice in academic settings, as well as other topics relevant to medical schools and teaching hospitals.
In 1910, the Flexner report created the philosophical and practical foundation for medical education in both America and Canada. Since then, medicine has become ever more complex. We face an expansion of medical knowledge and technologies, a mounting burden of chronic illnesses and palpable health disparities between continents. Social factors – such as cultural diversity, global mobility and connectivity, accessibility to healthcare,socioeconomic status – are the added complexities faced by contemporary physicians. Improving physician training programs ultimately equips health care systems to adapt and evolve to the changing health and societal needs that define this world.
We began this special column by comparing the undergraduate medical education systems in Canada and China. We invited leaders from the Faculty of Medicine at McGill University (Montreal, Canada) and Sun Yat-sen School of Medicine (Guangzhou, China) to introduce their education programs.
Please follow and enjoy this column. Articles related to ophthalmology are published in Annals of Eye Science (AES): https://aes.amegroups.com/post/view/introduction-a-medical-education-column; others are published in AME Medical Journal (AMJ): https://amj.amegroups.com/post/view/introduction-a-medical-education-column.
Corresponding to: Tianwei Ellen Zhou, MD, PhD, Department d'ophtalmologie, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada.
Email: ellen.zhou@umontreal.ca
Contact AMJ: amj@amegroups.com
