Avicenna Directories > News > Development of the AVI...
2009-01-30
Development of the AVICENNA databases in 2008
In 2008, with partner organisations, plans for development of Directories in pharmacy and public health have progressed.
The focus has been on the plans for the new AVICENNA Directory for Medicine. This database will include not only information about individual medical schools and their programmes in basic medical education but also information about the system of medical education, licensure to practise medicine and national regulations in each country.
From September to November 2008 the AVICENNA Secretariat piloted a web-based questionnaire for medical schools to gather basic identifying information about each medical school as well as information about the school’s medical education program including:
· the structure of the medical school and its affiliations with academic organizations and health care institutions
· the resources and facilities available to the medical school to deliver the educational programme and to support students
· the processes for quality assurance of the medical school’s programme in basic medical education
· student admission and the number of students
· duration and structure of the academic programme
· teaching and learning methods.
This pilot has led to refinements of the questionnaire and the AVICENNA office thanks the more than 25 medical schools from a range of countries and WHO/WFME regions which contributed to this process. Systematic collection of data from medical schools is planned to start from February 2009. As it receives responses from countries invited to supply data for the Directory, the AVICENNA Secretariat will list them on this website.
The launch of the new AVICENNA Directory for Medicine with updated and expanded data for the first group of countries is planned for the first quarter of 2009.
In order to ensure that the Directory is a source of reliable information, the AVICENNA Secretariat has developed a plan for validation of the data submitted by medical schools. The policy on validation of entries by medical schools is now available on the Avicenna website http://cms.ku.dk/admin/sund-sites/avicenna/uploads/policy_medicine.pdf