Research in medical education

Abstract

The year 2009 saw a number of developments in Medical Education in Malta that were initiated as a result of a commitment to revising the medical curriculum in order to meet the challenges in medical education. A record number of students were admitted to the medical course in 2009. There is concern that eventually this exponential increase in admissions is not sustainable due to infrastructural, financial and human resource restraints. Meanwhile there has been a simultaneous attempt to re-vamp the first and second year curriculum and to continue to fine tune the curriculum in years three, four and five. Students are now introduced to clinical scenarios as early as during the first year of the medical course and case based learning is being implemented into a modular system of teaching that integrates anatomy, physiology, biochemistry and genetics to ensure a holistic approach to understanding the human body in health and subsequently in disease. It is hoped that such changes will bring the University of Malta Medical School more in line with the ethos of the Bologna process and the European Credit Transfer System.