Elizabeth Armstrong: Says regional courses offer a chance to look more closely at local issues.

University of Queensland is latest to host regional program based on the Harvard Macy model

Medical education in Australia is in the midst of a major reform movement, with institutions emphasizing earlier contact with patients, increasing the use of problem-based curricula, and encouraging self-directed learning. Another change in the air is the increased commitment to community-based medical education, with clinical training decentralized away from the teaching hospital.

This climate of change is calling for both health educators and institutional leaders to re-examine their roles, the environments in which they teach and work, and the skills they need to remain ahead of the learning curve. Recently faculty from HMI joined educators from Australia and New Zealand at the University of Queensland for a program focused on the challenge facing health educators. The course drew on models and exercises that have become staples of the Harvard Macy Institute’s Boston-based professional development programs.

“We teamed with lead faculty from the University of Queensland to present a condensed version of the Institute’s Program for Educators in the Health Professions,” said Elizabeth Armstrong, PhD, the director of the Harvard Macy Institute. She was joined on the program faculty by Tom Aretz, MD, HMI vice president of global programs. Raymond Peterson, MD, associate professor and director of the Centre for Medical Education, and Louise Young, PhD, both of the University of Queensland, also served on the faculty.

As the Harvard Macy network has expanded, elements of the Institute’s courses have been adapted, customized, and delivered in multiple international locations, including India, Canada, Singapore, and the Caribbean. The Committee of Deans of Australian Medical Schools hosted a similar course for Australian educators in February 2005.

“The customized regional courses enable us to look closely at specific local issues and challenges, and see how advances in academic medicine from all over the world might be applied in an appropriate way,” said Armstrong.

HMI and the University of Queensland are discussing the possibility of making the program an annual event, with the focus switching between education and leadership in alternating years.  

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