In this issue:

  Read the 2006 HMI Annual Report

  Training for nurses goes hand in hand with enhancing Phyathai network

  Recent HMSDC programs bring clinical updates to UAE health care professionals

  HMI senior consultant receives top award for CME

  HMI and Karolinska Institute to team for second program on innovations in curricular design

  Special symposium featuring Harvard faculty highlights Arab Health 2007

Read the 2006
HMI Annual Report
The HMI Annual Report presents a summary of HMI’s programs and partnerships around the world, providing readers with a full-color view of how HMI and our partners are helping to foster advances in global health care systems development, medical education, and research. An electronic version of the 2006 HMI Annual Report is now available on the HMI main website.


Training for nurses goes hand in hand with enhancing Phyathai network
Phyathai Hospital Group (PYT) is working with HMI on a nursing professional development initiative as a key part of its strategy to enhance clinical services throughout its network. The collaboration has accelerated in recent months, with PYT holding a conference focused on nursing and supporting observerships in Boston hospitals for seven nurses.

The initiative is being co-directed by Elizabeth Brown, RN, MSN, MBA, director of clinical services, and Dusdee Tongpuy, RN, MS, executive director of nursing at PYT. Tongpuy said that their goal is to help PYT achieve its overall mission by enhancing PYT’s professional practice model, which includes increasing the nursing workforce’s capabilities in management, clinical practice, education, and shared governance.

“PYT’s mission is to be a continuously learning organization providing health care services with professionalism, warmth, and trust. We hope that through our collaboration with HMI, we can accomplish that mission and be a magnet hospital,” said Tongpuy.

Seven nurses from Phyathai Hospital Group completed observerships in Boston hospitals, with coordination from the Institute for Nursing Healthcare Leadership. Joyce Clifford of the Institute is at center.

In October, Brown joined colleagues in Thailand for “Phyathai Nursing Congress: Nursing Best Practice to Best Performance,” which was attended by nurses and nurse leaders throughout Bangkok.  Brown presented on the development of professional practice models for nurses. “My goal was to encourage the nurses at the conference to identify the elements in their organizations that support best practice, and to creatively work together to try new approaches that would benefit both patients and nurses,” said Brown.

In November, seven nurses from PYT traveled to Boston to complete observerships in Harvard Medical School-affiliated hospitals. The Institute for Nursing Healthcare Leadership worked with HMI, Massachusetts General Hospital, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Northeastern University to develop individual programs focusing on operating room efficiency, quality improvement, case management, cardiac care, and nursing professional development. The programs gave the nurses and preceptors the opportunity to share critical processes, roles, and approaches to improving clinical skills.


Recent HMSDC programs bring clinical updates to UAE health care professionals
The Harvard Medical School Dubai Center (HMSDC) Institute for Postgraduate Education & Research continues to provide high-quality continuing medical education (CME) programs focused on bringing the latest knowledge on a variety of subject areas to Gulf Region health care professionals. Three programs held in November paired faculty from Harvard Medical School and its affiliated hospitals with regional academic leaders to address infectious diseases, endocrine disorders, and infection control in the hospital setting.  

Together with Index, a leading events and exhibition management organization, HMDSC launched the first annual International Infectious Disease Congress, directed by Stephen Caldwerwood, MD, chief of the Division of Infectious Disease at Massachusetts General Hospital. The program was designed to provide updates on best practices in the diagnosis and management of infectious disease problems commonly encountered in medical practice. Presentation topics included community-acquired infections in the Gulf Region, antimicrobial-resistant pathogens, vaccinations, gastrointestinal infections, viral hepatitis, HIV, and new and reemerging infectious diseases.

Robert L. Thurer, MD, Chief Academic Officer of HMSDC, said he was “delighted to have the opportunity to bring our knowledge and resources to the area of infectious disease, a growing concern in the region.”

HMSDC welcomed endocrinologists and other health care professionals for “Specialty Practi-Med: Endocrinology for Primary Care Physicians and Obstetricians,” a two-day CME course led by Anthony Hollenberg, MD, chief of the Thyroid Unit at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. The course topics included the management of thyroid disease, the diagnosis and treatment of type II diabetes, the role of nutrition in the prevention and management of diabetes, and current medical and surgical approaches to the therapy of obesity.

Finally, HMSDC teamed with Gulf Pharmaceutical Industries (Julphar) to offer “Challenges in Hospital Infectious Diseases,” a one-day CME program held in Ras Al Khaimah, one of the northern emirates of the UAE. Kenneth Sands, MD, MPH, of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, appeared via live videoconference to discuss infection control in the Intensive Care Unit, including the changing epidemiology of hospital-acquired bacteria and strategies for controlling antibiotic-resistant organisms. Steven Zinner, MD, chief of medicine at Mt. Auburn Hospital, advised the audience on current therapies available to treat bloodstream infections caused by these organisms.

HMSDC’s continuing medical education programs are fully accredited for both regional and U.S. CME credits by the Harvard Medical School Department of Continuing Medical Education. For information on past and future offerings from HMSDC, visit the website at www.hmsdc.hms.harvard.edu.

HMI senior consultant receives top award for CME
B. Price Kerfoot, MD, EdM, a senior consultant at HMI, is the recipient of the 2007 William Campbell Felch/Wyeth Award for Research in Continuing Medical Education (CME). The award is given annually by the Alliance in Continuing Medical Education, the nation’s leading advocate for CME and CME professionals. The award recognizes the best completed research project in the arena of CME.

B. Price Kerfoot

Kerfoot, who is a clinical urologist at the Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System and an assistant professor in surgery at Harvard Medical School, was the principal investigator on the multi-institutional project entitled "International Randomized Controlled Trial of Spaced Education." Involving 537 urology residents in the United States and Canada, the study demonstrated that a novel “Spaced Education” methodology utilizing spacing effect principles could improve residents' acquisition and retention of clinical knowledge. The work will be published in the Journal of Urology this spring.

In addition to its importance in preparing urology professionals, Kerfoot’s work could pave the way for CME professionals in other disciplines to more effectively study their own programs and evaluate the outcomes. This is certainly an area of interest for HMI, which provides a wide range of continuing professional development and training programs. Kerfoot is working with faculty at HMI to apply the principles and practices of his research to HMI’s international education programs.

HMI and Karolinska Institute to team for second program on innovations in curricular design
Harvard Medical International and the Karolinska Institute in Sweden will again team to present a unique course focused on curriculum design in medical education. The course, entitled “International Design Strategies for Medical Curricula Across the Continuum,” will gather top faculty and leaders in academic medicine from around the world in Stockholm to explore innovations in the training and education of health care professionals.

The first HMI-Karolinska course, held in May 2006, was attended by 42 educators from 14 countries.

The course directors are, from HMI, Elizabeth Armstrong, PhD, HMI director of education programs, and Tom Aretz, MD, HMI vice president of global programs; and from the Karolinska Institute, Jan Bolinder, MD, PhD, chair of the Department of Medicine Huddinge and professor in clinical diabetology, and Jonas Nordquist, PhD, director of the university’s Medical Case Centre.

The objective of the course is to investigate current and newly developed curricular models, analyze the processes through which curricula are derived, and derive new approaches to leading and managing change in medical education. The program faculty and participants will:

   Create strategies that address the linkage between the education and training of health care professionals and the quality of health care
   Examine methods and processes that optimize the implementation of such strategies
   Critically assess the appropriate outcomes metrics to assure and gauge success
   Develop methodologies for enhancing the capabilities of professionals leading these efforts
   Explore advanced technological support systems to both deliver and monitor the quality of training and health care delivery.

“International Design Strategies for Medical Curricula Across the Continuum” will be held May 6-11 at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. Applications must be submitted online at www.harvardmacy.org by February 15, 2007. To learn more, visit the website of the Harvard Macy Institute and download a course brochure.


Special symposium featuring Harvard faculty highlights Arab Health 2007

HMI and Dubai Healthcare City (DHCC) will again showcase the latest developments resulting from their strategic collaboration at Arab Health 2007, the Middle East’s largest and most highly attended health care exhibition. HMI and DHCC will also join the Harvard Medical School Dubai Center (HMSDC) Institute for Postgraduate Education and Research and the Dubai Harvard Foundation for Medical Research to present a special symposium featuring leading faculty from Harvard Medical School (HMS).

The one-day symposium, held on January 30, is entitled “Advances in Health Care: Trends in Medical Education and Technology from Faculty at Harvard Medical School.” Joseph B. Martin, MD, PhD, dean of the Faculty of Medicine at HMS, heads a distinguished group of faculty, including stem cell expert David Scadden, MD and leading oncologist Lowell Schnipper, MD. Among the topics covered at the symposium are new therapies used to treat cancer, angiogenesis, heart disease treatment, and the potential for stem cells to impact medicine. Dr. Martin’s lecture will focus on innovations in medical education.

Arab Health 2007 will be held from January 29 through February 1 at the Dubai International Exhibition Center. The conference will host over 2,000 exhibits with participants from the health care industry in over 60 different countries. In past years Arab Health has attracted more than 30,000 visitors over the course of the four-day exhibition.

HMI World welcomes comments from readers. Please send us your thoughts on any of the articles in the Bulletin section.

back to top