International Virtual Medical School or IVIMEDS

Have you heard of the International Virtual Medical School or IVIMEDS? Sounds like an interesting concept, doesn't it?

The International Virtual Medical School - IVIMEDS - is a worldwide partnership of leading edge medical schools and institutions, setting new standards in medical education and blending high quality e-learning and face-to-face learning in the training of health care professionals.

The IVIMEDS Principles include:

• The use of world class learning materials accessed and shared among leading international medical schools and institutions.
• Flexibility in choice of content and learning strategies and the ability to customise content to meet specific needs of teachers, doctors and students wherever they are located.
• Technical interoperability and standards maximising the scope for international collaboration and flexibility of delivery methods

IVIMEDS is an international not-for-profit partnership of medical schools and institutions working to develop the full potential of e-learning in medical education. In partnership with its members IVIMEDS aims to provide an effective means of developing and sharing a range of quality digital learning resources and value-added educational services across the continuum of education. Primary development efforts are focussed on the undergraduate medical curriculum, though strategic opportunities for developments at postgraduate and continuing professional development level are being explored.

E-learning technologies are changing the landscape of medical education. Students today have access to such a wide range of multimedia, simulators, and other innovative tools that can significantly enhance their education. I envy modern-day medical students (and even college students for that matter). I didn't use a tablet PC to write notes using different colored pens when I was a student. I didn't have access to rich multimedia simulations.