Standing Committee on Medical Education
Medical Education should be a concern of every medical student as it shapes not only the quality of future doctors but also the quality of healthcare. The International Federation of Medical Students' Associations (IFMSA) has a dedicated organ which aims to implement an optimal learning environment for all medical students around the world, the Standing Committee On Medical Education (SCOME).
Through all our joint efforts we work to create sustainable changes around the world, for ourselves as medical students, for the generations to come and for our future patients and our communities who are in fact the final beneficiaries of our education.
SCOME empowers medical students to grow personally as soft skills and professionally as clinical skills by improving medical education.
Medical students are meaningfully engaged within their respective Medical Education Systems and represent student voice in issues regarding Medical Education as full-fledged stakeholders on all levels in order to create quality Medical Education worldwide and attain suitable competencies which will enable them to answer the healthcare needs of communities they have a mandate to serve.
SCOME is a platform that creates a shared environment where medical students contribute, reflect, and work on the development of Medical Education through student-led activities. SCOME enables medical students to reach their full potential as Medical Education leaders through activities aimed at education, research, capacity development, meaningful youth engagement and advocacy in order to create an effective impact on a local, national, regional, and international level.
SCOME was one of IFMSA's first standing committees from the beginning of its foundation in 1951. It acts as a discussion forum for students interested in the different aspects of medical education in the hope of pursuing and achieving its aim. Today, SCOME works mainly in medical education capacity building.
SCOME provides several platforms and methods to educate medical students worldwide on various medical education issues. Through this knowledge, it empowers them to advocate to be a part of the decision-making chain. SCOME believes in medical students as important stakeholders in creating, developing and implementing medical education systems.
Healthcare is changing at an unprecedented rate and at multiple fronts. Medical science has increased our understanding of the body and created an explosion of new information. However, medical schools are not or only slowly introducing changes in their curriculum. Teachers at many medical faculties are not educated to teach; they are doctors and mostly lack knowledge of how to show their skills to their students.
As medical students are directly exposed to medical curricula, they are the first quality-check of medical education and they should rightfully have an influence on the creation of new curricula and curriculum development. The second check of medical education is if the graduates are able to meet the standards of the medical profession, of their healthcare systems and the needs of their communities.
We are concerned about facing the needs of healthcare in a modern society and are willing to commit to making sure our education prepares us for them. Scientific data show that modern medical curricula are a lot more likely to teach students in an appropriate way in order to create doctors equipped with various skills and knowledge.
Here, SCOME enters the game. We try to promote modern medical education. Convinced by many positive examples we go on that mission by teaching and training students, teachers and professors, exchanging experiences and spreading information.
A workshop that educates enthusiastic medical students about all the basics of medical education through a 3-4 day intensive program.
A public Google Drive folder established to be a growing source of all relevant documents and resources related to medical education.
Bi-monthly interactive posts on the SCOME Facebook Group to educate and increase awareness regarding specific medical education topics.
Visit the official IFMSA SCOME page for more detailed information about medical education initiatives worldwide.
Visit IFMSA SCOME →