News Archive

Plans are now advancing for the joint work package meeting in Bordeaux on the 26th and 27th of April 2012. This will be a joint work package meeting for members of work packages 1, 2, 3, 4 and 7 and as such all work package members are invited to attend.

The meeting is being hosted by the University of Bordeaux and will begin at 10.30am on the 26th. There will be lots of time available for the work packages to continue their activities and develop their results and outputs as we near the end of the project. This will be the last individual work package meetings for the teams to discuss their results before we have our final meeting in Edinburgh. Therefore, we envisage that it will be a very busy, active meeting. We are very grateful to the University of Bordeaux for offering to host the event and providing us with assistance whilst we make our arrangements. We look forward to seeing as many people there as is possible!

MEDINE2 members can log in to find the draft programme and registration form. Alternatively, they are available on the 'Meetings' Page

We are now into the final year of the MEDINE2 project, with our finish date being the 30th September 2012. In the forthcoming months we will have many tasks to finalise to ensure successful completion of the project. I would urge you to engage fully with work package leaders and the coordinating office in all activities.

This years AMEE Conference in Vienna saw a good deal of MEDINE2-related activity. There were a number of presentations and workshops on the outputs of the Network. In additional Work packages 3, 5, 6 and 7 held team meetings. The overall profile of the Network appeared much higher than in previous years. There is clearly considerable interest in our work among the wider medical education community in Europe and beyond. We are very grateful to AMEE for the use of rooms and for facilitating our work during the conference.

Looking ahead, the plan is that we will hold two major meetings of the MEDINE2 Network during the final year of operation, in 2012. The first meeting will be in Bordeaux, France. The dates will be 26 and 27 April 2012. Rather than a full General Partners Meeting, this will be effectively a combined Work package meeting, using the funding allocated for Work package meetings during 2012. We will be sending further information about the meeting in the next few weeks and updating the website. This will really be the final opportunity to ensure that the various deliverables attached to each Work package are on schedule and ready to be delivered. We have informed the ECTS MA group about this meeting and it seems likely that they will, again, hold their annual clearing house meeting after the close of the MEDINE2 meeting. This will be confirmed as soon as possible.

Arranging the meetings in this way will allow us to have a final, round-up General Partners Meeting in the autumn. This will be held in Edinburgh on 13 and 14 September 2012. This will clearly be a key event when we will pull together the various strands of work and formulate some major conclusions for submission to the European Commission. Because this meeting will be very close to the end of the eligible period of the grant, it will be very important that the organisation is very tight and that things like timesheets and expenses claims are submitted immediately after the meeting. This additional time pressure is the main reason that we have chosen to hold the meeting in the coordinating centre of Edinburgh.

Finally, a word about surveys. European wide surveys are a major component of the work of MEDINE2, building on successful work in the setting of the original MEDINE Network. At present, all of the work packages have active on-line surveys. Details are on the website. At the moment, response rates are far below what we would regard as desirable for almost all of the surveys. Can I please ask you to look at these surveys, complete them yourself and if at all possible forward them to relevant individuals in your institution or in your country who you think may be willing to take the time to fill them in. Taken together, these surveys represent a really important opportunity for us to influence the future of medical education in Europe. I would be extremely grateful for your help and cooperation.

I very much hope that we can look forward to seeing you in Bordeaux and Edinburgh next year.

Professor Allan Cumming

University of Edinburgh

Coordinator, MEDINE2 Network

Work packages 1 and 2 will meet later this week in Vienna to further develop their activities and deliverables. Those who are members of these work packages will have received information regarding this meeting, and can log into the Members Area for detailed information relating to the meeting. The project coordinator, Prof Cumming, will also be joining the meeting and is looking forward to an active meeting!

The participants of work packages 3 and 7 held their meetings for 2011 in Vienna on the 31st of August and 1st of September. This followed the AMEE conference for 2011 during which the MEDINE2 project was discussed on many occasions. A total of 28 participants joined the work package meetings which were kindly hosted by the Medical University of Vienna. Throughout the two days, the groups held important discussions and made progress with their activities. WP3 are currently developing their Tuning materials and will be taking these to the next step in the coming months. WP7 discussed their survey, models of best practice and promotional materials. Further documents and information on the meetings can be found in the Members Area for work package participants.

There are a number of talks, workshops and presentations scheduled as part of AMEE 2011 that will be relevant to the MEDINE2 project and our work packages. Those that we are aware of are listed below:

Monday 29 Aug:

1415-1430 3K2 Harmonisation of medical education and training in Europe 25 years on. A Cumming (University of Edinburgh, Centre for Medical Education, Queens Medical Research Institute, Edinburgh UK)

1530-1545 3K7 Are EU medical graduates ready for work in any member state? Helen S Cameron (Centre for Medical Education, University of Edinburgh, UK)

Both in location 'Shubert 2' as part of the session on '3K SHORT COMMUNICATIONS: International Dimensions of Medical Education'

Tuesday 30 Aug:

0815-1000 5S Workshop: Integrating research skills and competences in the medical curriculum: A workshop on finding the right balance. Led by a group from WP7. Location of 'Hall B, Galerie Room 3&4'.

1030-1200 6B Symposium: Developments in Medical Education in the European Union. Led by members from WP5 & WP6. In the location 'Strauss 1'.

In addition, there are a number of work package meetings linked to the AMEE conference. WP5 & WP6 will have a joint meeting on Tuesday 30 at 1600 in 'Business Suite 2&3' at the main AMEE venue. WP3 will meet in the afternoon of the 30th Aug and for the full day on the 1st of Aug. WP7 will meet for the full day of the 1st of Aug. Full details have been sent out to members of these work packages, if you would like to know more, please email medine2@ed.ac.uk.

MEDINE2 will have a stand at the upcoming AMEE conference in Vienna (29th - 31st August 2011). We will be at stand number 33 in the Exhibition Area of Hall A, so please stop by and find out how you can have your say in the future of medical education in Europe!

The 2011 work package meetings are now at an advanced stage of planning. MEDINE2 members should keep a look out for announcements from their work package leaders via this website and by email. The meetings planned to date are as follows.

Work package 1 - 27th to 28th October in Vienna

Work package 2 - 27th to 28th October in Vienna

Work package 3 - 1st September in Vienna

Work package 4 - November (date TBC) in Ankara

Work package 5 - 30th August in Vienna

Work package 6 - 30th August in Vienna

Work package 7 - 1st September in Vienna

Please complete the work package 7 asking to what extent research competences should be integrated into the medical curriculum. The survey can be accessed by from the following link or through clicking on the 'Surveys' button above:

WP7 Survey

Please note the survey should be completed online in English. Full instructions are given, so please take a moment to read through the introduction on page 1 of the survey. If you prefer to complete a hard copy of the survey rather than the online version, please contact medine2@ed.ac.uk.

Please complete the work package 4 survey on core learning outcomes for Bachelors degrees in medicine across Europe. The survey can be accessed by from the following link or through clicking on the 'Surveys' button above:

WP4 Survey

Please note the survey can be completed online in English at the moment and will soon be followed by versions in French, German and Spanish. Full instructions are given, so please take a moment to read through the introduction on page 1 of the survey. If you prefer to complete a hard copy of the survey rather than the online version, please contact medine2@ed.ac.uk.

I am delighted to announce that we have now been informed by the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency of the European Commission that our interim report on the activities of MEDINE2 has been approved. As a consequence, the second interim funding payment has been released, which will allow us to move forward with the second phase of the Project. The evaluation of our interim report included high scores for "Management" and "Dissemination", with a lower score for "Coherence between workplan and activities carried out to date". This latter score (6 out of 10) does emphasise again the need to adhere to the agreed workplan and keep it on schedule. Overall, however, there appears to be acceptance that the Project is generally on track and moving forward. Again, we are grateful to the many people who are devoting their efforts to ensuring that this is the case. We look forward to the next 16 months of the Project, bringing it to a successful conclusion and moving forward with downstream activities.

If you would like to view the Public Section of the Progress Report that we submitted to the EACEA please click on the following link:

Best Wishes

Prof. Allan Cumming

Coordinator, MEDINE2 Erasmus Academic Network

The General Partners Meeting 2011 was held between the 19th and 21st of May in Budapest. Semmelweis University were excellent hosts for the meeting and we are very grateful for all the help they provided.

It was excellent to see so many of the project partners represented at the meeting. The invited speakers gave engaging presentations which stimulated a lot of discussion. The work packages met to progress with their tasks and also updated the project partners with the work they have done so far.

Project partners can log in and view the presentations from the meeting in the 'General' work area documents. Those funded to attend the project can also find information in the members area about how to claim your expenses and submit timesheets.

Please complete the work package 6 survey on the Integration of the Bologna Process in Bologna Countries. The survey can be accessed by from the following link:

WP6 Survey

Please note the survey can be completed online in English, French or German and full instructions are given. If you prefer to complete a hard copy of the survey rather than the online version, a PDF in any of the three languages can be downloaded.

Please complete the work package 5 survey on Curriculum Trends in Medical Education in Europe in the 21st Century. The survey can be accessed by from the following link:

WP5 Survey

Please note the survey can be completed online in English, French, German or Spanish and full instructions are given. If you prefer to complete a hard copy of the survey rather than the online version, a PDF in any of the four languages can be downloaded.

The members of work package 2 have launched a new survey about mobility and would like to ask project partners to take part. The survey can be accessed by clicking on this link

When you go to this site, please follow the instructions and email Monique Leonard to obatin a login specific to the WP2 area (different from your normal MEDINE2 login).

The MEDINE2 Coordinator and Executive Board have submitted a response to the recent constultation process on the Professional Qualifications Directive. The response submitted is avialable to view by clicking on the link below. It is important for the network to have an input into these Directives in the hope that they can be updated in a positive way and reflect the realities of medical education in Europe today.

The Progress Report for the Network is due to be submitted at the end of March 2011. A lot of work has gone into preparing the reports by the coordinating office, work package leaders and partners. Thank you to all who have contributed to this work. The report is now in the final stages of completion and will be submitted to EACEA on time. In due course, the public section of the report will be posted here on this website and also on the EACEA's website.

The Executive Board had a very good meeting in Amsterdam earlier this week. There was a full representation from all work packages and Board organisations. It provided us with a good update on all project activities and there was planty of discussion about future action plans. For details of the agenda please see the 'Meetings' page. The minutes will be posted there when available.

The MEDINE2 Project is pleased to announce it will be holding the second General Partners Meeting at the Basic Medical Science Center at Semmelweis University in the beautiful city of Budapest.

The meeting will begin in the evening of the 19th of May with a welcome reception and registration. We will have a full day of meetings on the 20th and a conference dinner in the evening. The final day of the meeting will close after lunch time on the 21st.

Details regarding registration will be sent out to all partners soon, but please note these dates in your diary now.

The second issue of the MEDINE2 project newsletter is now published and can be downloaded below. The newsletter contains further information about the next General Partners Meeting for May 2011 and will also bring you up to date regarding project activities.

MEDINE2 is almost 1 year old! The first year of the project has gone remarkably quickly, and has been a very busy one for the project. We have held the first General Partners Meeting in Edinburgh, held the first two Executive Board meetings and are now in the midst of the 2010 individual work package meetings. The MEDINE2 website has also been set up and is starting to be used more and more as a key communication tool for the network. Things seem to be progressing well, and so many thanks to you all for your hard work and enthusiasm.

The next round of work package meetings are now underway, so project partners should log in to the members area of the webpage to find out about their next meetings and how to go about getting involved.

As we are reaching the end of the first year, I am conscious that the end of the first reporting period is less than 6 months away! By the end of February 2011 we need to have spent 70% of our initial funding from the EC.

In order to ensure that we do reach the required spend level, I would urge all partners to ensure that they claim any expenses that are due, in a timely manner along with the submission of timesheets.

We also have a number of Deliverables which are due within the first 18 months of the project, and these will need to be reported on along with our financial figures in February next year. Work Package leaders will be working hard to ensure that these deliverables are met and partner input to their requests is extremely helpful.

Thanks once again to project partners for your hard work so far, and I hope this can continue to ensure the success of our project.

Yours,

Allan

The next set of work pacakage meetings are now underway. Members can log in to the members pages for further information regarding dates, registration and notes from meetings already held.

The work package meetings are as follows:

We have put together a project newsletter for MEDINE2 to highlight the current project activities. This has been sent round to all the project partners and is also avialable for you to view here.

MEDINE2 Newsletter Issue 1 (.pdf)

The first General Partners Meeting of MEDINE2 was held in Edinburgh on the 24th and 25th of May. Almost 100 delegates were welcomed to the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh for the meeting, representing 68 partners from the project. It was good to meet so many partners who had made the trip to a very sunny Edinburgh despite the volcanic ash clouds and air company strikes!

After a welcome given by Prof. Allan Cumming, the meeting comprised of a number of work package discussions and presentations. MEDINE2 members will be able to view the following presentations in the member's area of this site within the next few days:

• WP1: MEDINElingua - Ulrike Arnold
• WP2: Mobility - Borghild Roald
• WP3: Tuning Process - Helen Cameron
• WP4: Tuning Bologna 1st Cycle - Michael Ross
• WP5: Curriculum Trends in Medical Education in Europe in the 21st Century - Ronald Harden
• WP6: Integration of the Bologna Process - Madalena Patricio
• WP7: Research - Chris van Schravendijk

The Executive Board of the project also met in Edinburgh to discuss the progress of the project. The agenda for their meeting can also be seen here, with the papers provided for project members in the member's area of this site.

Download high-resolution photographs from the discussion section of the member's area.

Delegates photograph from the MEDINE2 General Partners Meeting 2010 (.jpg)

Executive Board photograph from the MEDINE2 General Partners Meeting 2010 (.jpg)

The first MEDINE2 General Partners Meeting will take place on the 24th and 25th of May 2010 at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

The programme for the meeting has now been finalised. The "launch meeting" will allow us to finalise the overall structure and shape of the Network and to carefully plan our work over the next three years.

The majority of partner institutions have registered delegates attending the meeting, which is excellent news.

Further details regarding the meetings, such as maps, hotel directions, etc can be found in the discussion section of the members area of this website.

Programme for MEDINE2 General Partners Meeting 2010 (.doc)

We are pleased to welcome Carol Telford to the Medine 2 project in the role of Project Manager. Carol is based at the University of Edinburgh and is spending her first few days familiarising herself with the project and partners. Although Carol is not from a medical education background, she has a variety of experiences in dealing with European projects and so is looking forward to helping out with the management aspects of Medine 2. Carol can be contacted through the medine2@ed.ac.uk email address.

Professor Allan Cumming,

Coordinator, MEDINE2 Erasmus Academic Network.

We held a successful first meeting of the Executive Board of the MEDINE2 Erasmus Academic Network in Antwerp on 3rd and 4th December 2009. We are currently preparing a full record of the meeting, which will be published on the MEDINE2 website.

There is a photograph on the website already showing that we were visited during the meeting by St Nicholas and his helper, and we hope that he brought us good fortune! We are extremely grateful to Karel van Liempt and his staff in the University of Antwerp for hosting this meeting.

Some key decisions of the Executive are as follows:

First MEDINE2 Annual General Meeting, Edinburgh 24th and 25th May 2010

We will hold an inaugural Annual General Meeting of the MEDINE2 Network at the University of Edinburgh on 24th and 25th May 2010. This "launch meeting" will allow us to finalise the overall structure and shape of the Network and to carefully plan our work over the next three years. We hope that as many partner institutions as possible will be represented at the meeting. Each partner institution is entitled to send one delegate to this meeting, with travel and accommodation costs for two nights covered by the MEDINE2 grant. Other staff from partner institutions are welcome to attend on a self-funding basis. Further details of the meeting will follow in due course, but the plan is to have a whole-day meeting on the 24th May and a morning-only session on the 25th May.

We understand that the ECTS Medicine Association, who are leading Workpackage 2 in the MEDINE2 Network, will be holding a meeting in parallel with the MEDINE2 AGM.

Membership of Workpackage Teams - a preference survey

In order to distribute the work of the Network evenly and to achieve a balanced budget, we need to have a planned approach to membership of the seven development Workpackage teams. Several partners and their representatives have already indicated which Workpackage team they wish to join, and have agreed this with the Workpackage leader. These arrangements will be respected by the coordinating centre. However, we wish to ensure that every partner is clearly linked to membership of a specific Workpackage team. This will allow their representative to be funded for attendance at Workpackage meetings. We have therefore prepared a short preference survey which can be accessed at this URL - http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/5L3D5QQ.

Even if you have already agreed membership with a particular Workpackage, I would be very grateful if you could click on this link and complete this survey as soon as possible (it will only take a minute or so). Once all the replies are received, we will prepare a proposal for the distribution of partners across the Workpackage Teams.

Workpackage Team Meetings

It is intended that each of the seven development Workpackages will hold a meeting in the autumn of 2010, to take forward the plans which are in place and which will be further developed at the May AGM. Dates and venues for these meetings will be circulated as soon as possible.

Project Manager

The post of Project Manager for the MEDINE2 Network has been advertised and we will be interviewing candidates between now and Christmas. We hope to have someone in post by the end of January.

MEDINE2 Website

Work is continuing to develop the MEDINE2 website into a useful tool to support the work of the Network. The members area will formally be opened in early February 2010.

Allan Cumming

The first meeting of the MEDINE2 Executive took place on December 4th in Antwerp. Events took a twist towards the divine when the meeting was interrupted by St Nicholas!

We are happy to report that the contractualisation phase between the University of Edinburgh and the European Commission Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency has finally been concluded and the relative contracts have been signed. This means that officially MEDINE2 came into being on 1 October 2009. The eligible period for expenditure will last until 1 October 2012. No specific amendments were made by the Commission to the project plan as submitted in February 2009. There were some late changes to the partner list and these were accepted by the Commission. The total number of partners is 93.

The first meeting of the Executive Board of MEDINE2 will be held in Antwerp on Friday, 4 December 2009, hosted by Karel van Liempt, the Deputy Chair of the Network. Shortly after that meeting, detailed arrangements for the constitution of work package teams, arrangements for funding and forthcoming meetings will be circulated. In the meantime, please watch the website for information. We look forward to working together with the partners in the Network in this exciting project.

Professor Allan Cumming
Chair, MEDINE2

MEDINE2 seeks to form active and productive relationships with other relevant European projects, institutions and organisations. This may include "spin-off" collaborations and attract funding to continue the work beyond the three years of the Network.

Individuals and institutions can shape the Network's outputs by participating in online surveys, attending one of the 23 MEDINE2 meetings over the next three years, and volunteering to pilot the Tuning Toolkit.