International projects

International foundations of medicine (iFOM)

The faculty of medicine, coordinated by the dean, has joined a project on the development and implementation of an 'International Foundations of Medicine'-examination. In cooperation with the staff of 'international projects' and 'assessment programs' of the NBME (National Board of Medical Examiners), Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, FAIMER (Foundations of Advancement of International Medical Education and Research) and several European universities (University of Minho, Portugal; Universities of Milan, Bologna, Firenze, Ferrara, Parma in Italy; others are continuing to join) an exam is composed in which the universal foundation of medicine is assessed.

The hypothesis is that 80% of medicine is universal, or in other words not subject to local regulations, cultural and/or ethnical beliefs, epidemiological data, and it is this aspect of medicine that is being tested. The goal is to create a common standard for all students worldwide in order to make student exchange, mainly in the U.S., with other universities easier.

The cooperation mostly consists of on the one hand a validation of exam questions and on the other hand the development of new exam questions. In addition, standard settings are determined and results are discussed.

This project launched several secondary research projects in which the results of the iFOM-exams are compared and correlated with the results on exams of the curriculum at the university in Leuven. This way our courses can be 'benchmarked' against an international standard.

Cooperation with the AAMC

The AAMC (American Association of Medical Colleges) represents all 133 accredited U.S. and 17 accredited Canadian medical schools; approximately 400 major teaching hospitals and health systems, including 62 Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers; and nearly 90 academic and scientific societies. Through these institutions and organizations, the AAMC represents 125,000 faculty members, 75,000 medical students, and 106,000 resident physicians.
The AAMC has over five hundred employees and supports existing projects of members or takes new initiatives her own. Working on education, research and patient care the AAMC intends to improve health care in general. One of their programs supporting universities and medical students is the VSAS (Visiting Student Application Service), an online service where universities and hospitals can advertise clinical clerkships/placements and where students can apply online for the clerkship/placement.  In the near future the AAMC would like to extend the program and include international partners as well. In the pilot project the Faculty of Medicine of the K.U.Leuven is named as a partner. This would give some of our medical students of the last year the possibility to perform a clinical clerkship/attachment in the US.

Cooperation with UTESM - Monterrey, Mexico

The Tecnológico de Monterrey is a Mexican private educational institution that was founded in 1943. At the present time it has campuses distributed throughout the country, and academic centers in Mexico and other Latin American countries; it also has international offices in North America, Europe, and Asia. Through its Virtual University it is present all over the world, by means of learning networks and advanced information technologies.
The Tecnológico de Monterrey promotes the development of its faculty through the attainment of academic degrees, the recognition of their teaching performance, and research activities.
As part of its continuous improvement strategy, the Tecnológico de Monterrey established the first Quality Congress for Academic Service. The objective of this congress is to reflect on the factors that influence academic service and to formulate an enhancement plan to ensure academic quality and enrich the educational model.
The Faculty of Medicine of the K.U.Leuven has established a cooperation agreement with this prestigious university, which focuses mainly on receiving Mexican students to Leuven for research. Later on the exchange of Leuven medical students for a clinical clerkship in Monterrey will be explored.

Saint Louis University – Baguio, The Philippines

Saint Louis University is regarded as one of the Philippines' respected and leading educational institutions that has grown with the demands of the current and future environments for its students and faculty alike. Around two hundred fifty kilometers north of Manila lays Baguio City, known to be the "Summer Capital of the Philippines" that enjoys temperate climate all year round. From a village resort established by the Americans, Baguio has become the Northern Philippines' center of business and commerce as well as the center of education. Saint Louis University has played a pivotal role in the evolution of the City into a center for learning in the North.
Today, SLU is the largest university north of Manila with about 20,000 university students in its campus located in the heart of the City. Its reputation for excellence attracts students and scholars not only from the Philippines but from other countries as well. It has sustained itself throughout the past ninety years to become one of the top centers of academic excellence in the Philippines that meet international standards in tertiary education. Most of its programs, from the elementary to the graduate level, have received the highest level of accreditation in the country.

Leuven medical students perform clinical clerkships at the Saint Louis University Hospital of the Sacred Heart
On the website of the university the ‘Hospital of the Sacred Heart’ is described as the prime regional tertiary teaching,
research-oriented and social service institution with the highest standards and health care workers who recognize that the  care of the sick is a  big responsibility. In the framework of this mission they offer education to their own student, but they offer also exchange students the possibility to perform a clinical clerkship in the hospital. Our medical students of the third master year are very enthusiastic about the quality of education offered at  the hospital.

Mater dei Hospital, Malta

The Mater Dei Hospital is an acute general teaching hospital, offering a full range of hospital services and a lot of specialist services. Mater Dei aims to create a centre of excellence in the provision of effective and efficient, acute patient centered quality care. It also aims to achieve high levels of patient and staff satisfaction and enhance teaching, research and innovation. The exchange of students and residents with Leuven can help both parties to achieve their mission statements.

ECTS MA

The core of the ECTS pilot phase medical discipline continued its activities from 1996 and was called ECTS ICMG (ECTS Inner Circle Medicine Group). It initially consisted of some 30 medical faculties and expanded gradually to 45 members. The group survived without EC grants from 1996 till today. The members met once a year, mainly as a clearing house meeting for student exchange.
ECTS MA, founded in 2004, is a legal association whose members are medical faculties from the European Union, including Switzerland and Norway. The aim of this association is to optimize the exchange of medical students within the E.U., using European Credit Transfer System (ECTS). An important initiative of ECTS MA was the preparation for the application of the thematic network MEDINE (2004-2007), which was successful and was approved by the European Commission.
The Faculty of Medicine of the K.U.Leuven is member of ECTS MA since 2010.

MEDINE 2

The MEDINE2 Thematic Network in Medical Education in Europe will build on the work of the MEDINE Network, 2004-2007. The Network is required because the education and training of medical doctors to a high standard is critical to the physical health, well-being, productivity and social cohesion of European society. Various issues must be addressed. Despite facilitative legislation, mobility of medical students and practitioners within Europe is limited, despite increasing mobility of citizens. Standards and content of medical education programs are inconsistent, and the transparency and comparability of qualifications are limited. This adversely affects equity of access to quality health-care. Application of the Bologna principles to medical education is patchy and variable, leading to further divergence of practice. Within this project, in which the Medical Faculty of K.U.Leuven participates, task forces have been established on various topics, discussion is initiated and summaries will be published.

European Association of International Education (EAIE)

The Faculty of Medicine is member of this organization, focusing on education in general, and topics involved like language courses, international exchange, recruiting students etc. We participate in a special interest group (SIG) on health education. During the annual conference we offer workshops or table discussion on medical education and exchange.