2011; 33: 620–625 Creating equal opportunities: The social accountability of medical education TREVOR GIBBS 1 & MICHELLE MCLEAN 2 1 National Medical Academy of Postgraduate Education, Ukraine, 2 Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates Abstract As new developments in medical education move inexorably forward, medical schools are being encouraged to revisit their curricula to ensure quality graduates and match their outcomes against defined standards. These standards may eventually be transferred into global accreditation standards, which allow ‘safe passage’ of graduates from one country to another [Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) 2010. Requiring medical school accreditation for ECFMG certification— moving accreditation forward. Available from: http://www.ecfmg.org/accreditation/rationale.pdf]. Gaining much attention is the important standard of social accountability – ensuring that graduates’ competencies are shaped by the health and social needs of the local, national and even international communities in which they will serve. But, in today’s ‘global village’, if medical schools address the needs of their immediate community, who should address the needs of the wider global community? Should medical educators and their associations be looking beyond national borders into a world of very unequal opportunities in terms of human and financial resources; a world in which distant countries and populations are very quickly affected by medical and social disasters; a world in which the global playing field of medical education is far from level? With medical schools striving to produce fit-for-purpose graduates who will hopefully address the health needs of their country, is it now time for the medical education fraternity to extend their roles of social accountability to level this unlevel playing field? We believe so: the time has come for the profession to embrace a global accountability model and those responsible for all aspects of healthcare professional development to recognise their place within the wider global community. ‘Nothing widens the gap of inequality as much as innovation’ Introduction An uneven medical education playing field The past two decades have witnessed nothing short of a major revolution in medical education. Responding to calls for medical education to be more relevant, most medical schools have redesigned their curricula in line with recommendations of local, national or international standard-setting authorities and bodies (Association of American Medical Colleges 1984; General Medical Council 1993, 2003; World Federation for Medical Education 2003; Scottish Deans’ Medical Curriculum Group 2007; Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada 2010). Suggestions for reform, however, frequently emanate from ‘First World’ contexts, where medical colleges are relatively well endowed with faculty and generally receive substantial federal financial support, compared with ‘develop- ing’ or ‘emerging’ regions where human and financial resources are limited or are allocated to more pressing social needs. Most innovations, however, come with a price tag, a good example being simulation: despite the reported benefits on learning, contextualised assessment and patient safety (Vozenilek et al. 2004; Bradley 2006), prohibitive costs prevent its universal inclusion in the medical curriculum. In advocating global standards in medical education, the World Federation for Medical Education (2003) ‘ ... undertakes Practice points . Global accreditation is now one of the most important targets for most medical schools . Social accountability is one important facet of a globally accredited medical curriculum . Social accountability lies not solely within the domain of a medical school; it is the responsibility of all healthcare training institutions, postgraduate training organisations and organisations responsible for continuing profes- sional development . Social accountability should also be a feature of those organisations and associations involved with the devel- opment of medical education . The global playing field of medical education is far from level in terms of opportunity and resources . An awareness of social accountability together with a collaborative and cohesive approach to the issue will help try solving many of the global issues facing medical education. Correspondence: T. Gibbs, National Medical Academy of Postgraduate Education, Kiev 04112, Ukraine. Tel: þ38 0444830435; fax: þ38 0444830435; email: tjg.gibbs@gmail.com 620 ISSN 0142–159X print/ISSN 1466–187X online/11/080620–6 ß 2011 Informa UK Ltd. DOI: 10.3109/0142159X.2011.558537 Med Teach Downloaded from informahealthcare.com by Professor Michelle McLean on 04/12/15 For personal use only.