The Medical Education Development Center (MEDC) of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences and Health Services was established in 1988 in response to the growing demand of the educational activities. Having top capacity in medical education this center was accredited as "Medical Education Research Center" by the Ministry of Health and Medical Education in year 2005. Today, this center has grown to such an extent that it has become one of the pioneer centers of its own kind and an educational pole in the country.
This center is in charge of academic member empowerment, leading (and maintaining) educational research, evaluating educational activities such as evaluating programs, teachers and students, curriculum development, promotion of teaching and learning , and providing programs leading to MS and PhD degrees in Medical Education. Also, another integral responsibility of this center is to recognize and support talented students and help them develop and grow in their field of interest.
Some of the main activities and innovations of MEDC are as follows:
-Developing the institutional accreditation system for all Iranian Medical
Universities
-Designing the process and structure of program accreditation system for all Iranian health professions educational programs
-Holding workshops, different educational programs, clinical skill trainings
-Providing consultations regarding the design and revision of the education curricula according to communities needs and job description of the health professionals
-MEDC also publishes Iranian Journal of Medical Education, which encompasses articles related to community oriented medical education
-Conducting researches in the field of Medical Education and providing consultation to other researchers of the university who are active in the same research field.
-Approving and funding any research that is performed in the entire university in the field of Medical Education -Providing technical and financial support for the thesis of PhD, MSc and medical students, which are in the field of Medical Education
-Design and implementation of Continuous Medical Education courses through formal lectures, seminars, journal clubs, symposia, workshops and e-learning programs
-Designing Introduction to Clinical Medicine (ICM), which is an interface between basic medical sciences and clerckship
-Designing the NAJMA software system, which is one of the nationwide known innovations, helps designing and preparing questions especially for board exams as well as other high stake tests. It is also commendable to mention that the Clinical Skills Learning Center (CSLC) and the Virtual Education Center (VEC) of this university are both under MEDC's supervision:
-Clinical Skills Learning Center (CLSC) provides learning facilities for students in different disciplines of medical fields that are offered at this university and also cooperates in developing and running clinical examinations such as OSCE and KF. This center aims at preparing medical students for clinical environments and real patients by providing related facilities and professional trainers. The center has also been nominated as a Center for Excellence in Clinical Skills Learning.
-Virtual Education Center, with an equipped high tech audio and visual studio, provides the required facilities in order to prepare e-learning materials for formal courses, Continuing Medical Education (CME) programs and faculty development programs. This unit is explained in more details in another section of the chapter of Educational Centers of the university.
