The current status of medical education in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries

T he main mission of medical education is to maintain and improve the quality of health care delivered by doctors to patients.This proc c cess is directly related to the quality of medical educac c tion, and nowadays there is growing concern among medical educators that conventional modes of teaching medical students neither bring out the right qualities in learners nor impart a lifeclong respect for learning. 1In 1899, Sir William Osler 2 realized that the complexity of medicine had already progressed beyond the ability of the teachers to teach everything that students would need to know.Osler recommended abolishing the lecc c ture methods of instruction and in this way allow stuc c dents more time to study on their own.Recent years have witnessed profound changes in political systems, epidemiological patterns, demographc c ic transition, microceconomic strategies, technological trends as well as health care systems.To cope and conc c form with these changes, medical colleges around the world have been increasingly confronted with the chalc c lenge of making their curricula more meaningful andThe current status of medical education in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries