Korean Institute Of Medical Education And Evaluation Research Articles

Education of History of Medicine for 80 Years: History and Current Status in Republic of Korea.

Medical history education enables the medical students to understand the humanistic aspects of medicine and also help to promote the professionalism of doctors. It makes them understand the disappearing or emerging diseases by recognizing the historical changes and trends to respond appropriately. Therefore, it is helpful to study and understand modern medicine. As of March 2023, 22 (55.0%) out of 40 medical schools in Republic of Korea have medical history course as an independent subject and two schools have integrated courses with medical ethics. Compared to 53.1% in 1995 and 56.2% in 2010, similar percentage of medical schools maintained the subject independently. However, the average credits of 18 schools in 2023(2.0) are higher than those of 1995(1.4) and 2010(1.2). The number of full-time professor who specialized in the history of medicine was 2 in 1995, 6 in 2010, and 11 in 2023. Generally, a full-time professor majoring medical history tend to have other duties besides the education and research of medical history, depending on the role of the department to which he or she belongs since they are assigned to the humanities education other than medical history education. Currently, the curriculums that have been recommended by Korea Association of Medical Colleges(KAMC), Korean Institute of Medical Education and Evaluation(KIMEE), and The Korean Society of Medical Education(KSMED), emphasize medical humanities but do not necessarily include the medical history. As a result, medical history courses have increased slightly, but the other humanities classes have increased significantly since 2000. The knowledge of medical history will help students become a doctor, and a doctor with professionalism adapting to the rapidly changing medical environment. Students will also be able to establish the ideas they must pursue in the present era when they come into contact with numerous historical situations. And if they share a sense of history, they will inspire a sense of unity as a profession and will be more active in solving social problems such as health equity. It is hoped that The Korean Society for the History of Medicine will step forward to set the purpose and goal of the medical history education, and organize the contents of the education. Classes should be prepared so that students are interested in them, and education should be focused on how the contents of education will be able to be used in medicine. To this end, it is necessary to establish the basic learning outcomes of history of medicine, and prepare learning materials based on these learning outcomes. It is also necessary to increase the competencies of educators for the history of medicine, such as performing workshops. With the dedication of the pioneers who devoted their energy to the education of medical history, it is expected that medical history will find out what to do in medical education to foster better doctors and provide better education.

History of the medical education accreditation system in Korea: implementation and activities in the early stages.

Following the opening of 12 new medical schools in Korea in the 1980s, standardization and accreditation of medical schools came to the forefront in the early 1990s. To address the medical community’s concerns about the quality of medical education, the Korean Council for University Education and Ministry of Education conducted a compulsory medical school evaluation in 1996 to see whether medical schools were meeting academic standards or not. This evaluation was, however, a norm-referenced assessment, rather than a criterion-referenced assessment. As a result, the Accreditation Board for Medical Education in Korea (ABMEK) was founded in 1998 as a voluntary organization by the medical community. With full support of the Korean medical community, ABMEK completed its 1st cycle of evaluations of all 41 medical schools from 2000 to 2004. In 2004, ABMEK changed its name to the Korean Institute of Medical Education and Evaluation (KIMEE) as a corporate body. After that, the Korean government paid closer attention to its voluntary accreditation activities. In 2014, the Ministry of Education officially recognized the KIMEE as the 1st professional institute for higher education evaluation and accreditation. The most important lesson learned from ABMEK/KIMEE is the importance of collaboration among all medical education-related organizations, including the Korean Medical Association.

A proposal for the future of medical education accreditation in Korea.

For the past 20 years, the medical education accreditation program of the Korean Institute of Medical Education and Evaluation (KIMEE) has contributed significantly to the standardization and improvement of the quality of basic medical education in Korea. It should now contribute to establishing and promoting the future of medical education. The Accreditation Standards of KIMEE 2019 (ASK2019) have been adopted since 2019, with the goal of achieving world-class medical education by applying a learner-centered curriculum using a continuum framework for the 3 phases of formal medical education: basic medical education, postgraduate medical education, and continuing professional development. ASK2019 will also be able to promote medical education that meets community needs and employs systematic assessments throughout the education process. These are important changes that can be used to gauge the future of the medical education accreditation system. Furthermore, globalization, inter-professional education, health systems science, and regular self-assessment systems are emerging as essential topics for the future of medical education. It is time for the medical education accreditation system in Korea to observe and adopt new trends in global medical education.

Change of accreditation standards of medical schools by the Korean Institute of Medical Education and Evaluation from 2000 to 2019.

This review presents information on changes in the accreditation standards of medical schools in Korea by the Korean Institute of Medical Education and Evaluation (KIMEE) from 2000 to 2019. Specifically, the following aspects are explained: the development process, setting principles and directions, evaluation items, characteristics of the standards, and validity testing over the course of 4 cycles. The first cycle of accreditation (2000–2005) focused on ensuring the minimum requirements for the educational environment. The evaluation criteria emphasized the core elements of medical education, including facilities and human resources. The second cycle of accreditation (2007–2010) emphasized universities’ commitment to social accountability and the pursuit of excellence in medical education. It raised the importance of qualitative standards for judging the content and quality of education. In the post-second accreditation cycle (2012–2018) which means third accreditation cycle, accreditation criteria were developed to standardize the educational environment and programs and to be used for curriculum development in order to continually improve the quality of basic medical education. Most recently, the ASK 2019 (Accreditation Standards of KIMEE 2019) accreditation cycle focused on qualitative evaluations in accordance with the World Federation of Medical Education’s accreditation criteria to reach the international level of basic medical education, which emphasizes the need for a student-centered curriculum, communication with society, and evaluation through a comprehensive basic medical education course. The KIMEE has developed a basic medical education evaluation and accreditation system in a step-by-step manner, as outlined above. Understanding previous processes will be helpful for the future development of accreditation criteria for medical schools in Korea.

A Proposal for the Future of Medical Education Accreditation

For the past 20 years, the medical education accreditation program of Korean Institute of Medical Education and Evaluation (KIMEE) has contributed greatly to the standardization and improvement of the quality of basic medical education in Korea. Now, it contributes to establishing and promoting the future of medical education. Since its inception in 2019, Accreditation Standard of KIMEE 2019 (ASK2019) aims to achieve world-class medical education through the application of learner-centered curriculum using a continuum framework for the three phases of formal medical education: basic medical education, post-graduate medical education, and continuing professional development. ASK2019 also promotes medical education which meets community needs and employs systematic assessments throughout the education process. These are important changes that can be used to gauge the future of the medical education accreditation system. Furthermore, internationalization, interprofessional education, health systems science, and on-going, permanent self-assessment systems in every medical school are emerging as important topics for the future of medical education. It’s time for the medical education accreditation system in Korea to observe and adopt new trends in global medical education.

The History and Implications of the Medical Education Accreditation System in Korea: Implementation and Activities in Early Stages

Following the opening of eleven medical schools in Korea in the 1980s, the issues of standardization and accreditation of medical education came to the forefront in the early 1990s. To address the medical community’s concern about the quality of medical education, the Korean Council for University Education and Ministry of Education conducted a compulsory medical school evaluation in 1996 to see whether the medical schools were meeting accreditation standards or not. The evaluation was a “relative evaluation” rather than an “absolute evaluation.” The Accreditation Board for Medical Education in Korea (ABMEK), established in 1998, was a mere voluntary organization, but with the full support of the Korean medical community, it successfully completed its first cycle of evaluations on all 41 medical schools from 2000–2004. The history of medical education evaluation activities, including those of ABMEK, was not well recorded. In 2004, ABMEK changed its name to the Korean Institute of Medical Education and Evaluation (KIMEE) as a corporate body and the government paid much attention to its voluntary accreditation activities. In 2014, the Ministry of Education officially recognized the KIMEE as an Institute for Accreditation of Higher Education Evaluation. The most important lesson learned from the history of ABMEK/KIMEE is the importance of cooperation among all medical education-related organizations, including the Korean Medical Association.

Introducing a legal mandate for basic medical education accreditation in Korea.

Introducing a legal mandate for basic medical education accreditation in Korea.

Comparison between standards of medical school accreditation of World Federation for Medical Education and Korean Institute of Medical Education and Evaluation

7Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, KyungHee University Medical Center, KyungHee University, Seoul, Korea.Medical school is the core of medical education to teach students. Medical school has a educational programmes under adifferent environment. Evaluation of medical school undertakes to promote the highest scientific and ethical standards in medicaleducation, initiating new learning methods, new instructional tools, and innovative management of medical education. We findout the differences compared the standards of WFME and KIMEE.World Federation for Medical Education(WFME) is an accrediting agency charged with quality improvement in the medicaleducation in the world. The WFME recommends global standards, which are structured to 9 areas with a total of 36sub-area inthe medical education. 9 Areas are mission and objectives, educational programme, assessment of students, students, academicstaff/faculty, educational resources, programme evaluation, governance and administration, continuous renewal. Sub-areas aredefined as specific aspects of an area, corresponding to performance indicators including basic standard and standard forquality development. Korean Institute of Medical Education and Evaluation (KIMEE) evaluates the 'Basic Medical ScienceCurriculum' in medical schools in Korea. The KIMEE recommends standards, which are structured to 6 domain with a total of 97sub-domain in the medical education. 6 domains are operating system, basic medical curriculum, student, faculty, facilities&equipments, and post-graduation. KIMEE has developed 97 global standards for appraisal of basic medical education. Bothinstitutions have the common standards to improve basic medical education and undertakes to promote the high scientific andethic standards in medical education. Modification of the WFME standards according to our country reality will be validity andobjective..

Faculty Responsible for the Accreditation Process of Medical Education in Korea Should Have Their Workloads Reduced

In Korea, year 2000 marked official launch of accreditation system for medical education. first accreditation project covered 41 medical schools from 2000 to 2004. During first project, 32 schools received full accreditation, while 9 schools received conditional accreditation since they were new medical schools. Beginning in 2007, second round of accreditation began, and it will end in 2010. Recently, there has been discussion on how to use results of accreditation and how to improve accreditation system at a meeting of the 5th Anniversary of Korean Institute of Medical Education and Evaluation (KIMEE) & 10th Anniversary of Accreditation Board of Medical Education in Korea in Seoul, November 18, 2009 [1]. The proposed usage of results included benefits for accredited schools and limitations for failing accreditation. Accredited schools would received selective government support. Graduates from failed schools would be limited in internship, residency applications, medical specialist boards examination or application in Korean Medical Licensing Examination. Eventually, their status would be announced and school closed. Also, following plan of improvement was suggested: evaluation and reports by students, questionnaires to students at admission and graduation, reporting every two years, etc. Those suggestions for usage of results is not so easy at current time since laws must be revised and authority of accreditation body should develop wide recognition by public. Meanwhile, plan of improvement might be easier to realize during next round of accreditation process. This accreditation system definitely has contributed to successful development of medical education in Korea. However, I would like to suggest one more point of improvement during accreditation process. present peer review process puts an undue burden on members of medical faculty who take on job of reporting. work required for writing and interpreting data is too extensive. database system KOMSIS (Korea Medical School Information System) should be sufficient to provide information necessary for accreditation. If KOMSIS contains enough information for peer review, burden on responsible faculty members can be reduced. Furthermore, faculty research and publication productivity should be checked by accreditation body by searching KoreaMed [2], PubMed, and Web of Science. That is method used in other evaluation project for each university carried out by mass media. Currently, calculation of productivity through publication of scientific papers is too complex to be summarized. If not only data inputted to KOMSIS are reviewed but also scientific productivity is checked by accreditation body, work burden of responsible faculty would be diminished and taking on this job would be a more pleasant and rewarding experience.