EU IMS - WP1 Quality Assurance (TF 1)

The International Medical School 2020 Project (IMS 2020) represents a structural network of medical schools funded by the EU Lifelong Learning Programme (LLP - ERASMUS) for a three year period (October 2010 – September 2013).

The network consists of 6 leading European medical schools (Charité Berlin (Coordinator) Paris, Antwerp, Karolinska, Warsaw, Rome) one Australian partner (Monash) and two advisory partners: Brussels Education Services and the Centre for Higher Education Development (CHE).

The IMS 2020 network of medical schools aims to study, learn from and act upon the impact of internationalization on the following three key issues. All three issues represent organizational aspects of medical schools at faculty level:

TF1: Quality Assurance

TF2: Staff Management and Training

TF3: Autonomy and Accountability

The IMS 2020 Project which is coordinated by the Charité University Hospital in Berlin is an Erasmus Life Long Learning three year project funded by the EU. The project has nine project partners including six top European medical schools (Berlin, Paris, Antwerp, Karolinska, Warsaw, Rome), one Australian medical school (Monash) and two advisory partners (Brussels Education Services and the Centre for Higher Education Development, CHE).

Background

The term Internationalization has become an integral part of university life and yet it is a term that remains unclear. Internationalization is no longer merely a consequence of ever expanding globalization but has taken on a dynamic of its own. Yesterday spoke of a global world without frontiers and were slowly forced to consider questions of internationalization. Today people are no longer forced to do so, on the contrary they welcome the chance to look beyond national horizons and learn from their neighbours. In this context internationalization entails an agenda with concrete policies and detailed strategies allowing both players and institutions to communicate and collaborate in the international sphere. This is of particular relevance in the field of medical education where mobility between different countries and health systems is already an integral and essential part of medical school life across the continent and beyond.

The Project

IMS 2020 envisages the creation of a structural network of medical schools in Europe (and beyond) that will study, learn from and act upon the impact of ‘internationalization’ on the following three key issues: - Quality Assurance - Staff Training/ International Office - Autonomy and Accountability (Governance) Within the structural network the above issues will form three Task Forces, each with its own specific agenda and activities. The ultimate aim of these three Task Forces will be the creation of an „International Medical School“ Label with Europe-wide recognition which medical schools will be able to apply for. The label will eventually help to identify top quality international medical schools across Europe and beyond.

Further information under: www.ims-2020.eu

• Uwe Brandenburg

• Andrea Güttner

• Hannah Leichsenring

• M.A. Britta Morzick

• Brandenburg, Uwe; Kreft, Anne-Kathrin; Morzick, Britta; Staniczenko, Michelle: IMS Background Study, Gütersloh, CHE Consult, 2011