UF helps launch online international medical school

To help make medical education more accessible and less costly, the University of Florida and more than 30 other institutions in 16 countries have launched the world’s first online medical school.

The International Virtual Medical School (IVIMEDS) does not replace traditional medical education but provides an alternative for students whose location or resources prevent them from attending a university in person, said Ira Gessner, M.D., UF eminent scholar emeritus of pediatrics.

“Ultimately, distance learning through IVIMEDS could become a major program at the UF College of Medicine,” said Gessner, who is leading the UF effort. “As a partner institution, the online curriculum also will be available to supplement learning by our on-site students.”

The program, led by the University of Dundee in Dundee, Scotland, was launched in February and is expected to begin teaching students in August 2004. UF is one of five U.S. universities in the program, which includes institutions in Europe, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Australia.

“The UF College of Medicine has great expertise that’s germane to online education,”Gessner said. “We’ve had people developing human patient simulators and other forms of computer-based learning for years.”

All partner institutions will help develop a uniform IVIMEDS curriculum, he said. Basic science material will be taught largely online, but much of the clinical work will require face-to-face learning at local health facilities. Each student will be associated with a “home” institution that will supervise clinical work, monitor academic progress and grant a degree.

“The curriculum will be carefully evaluated, screened and judged to be pertinent and up-to-date before it’s used,” Gessner said. “This coordinated approach ought to result in extraordinarily useful materials.”

UF and the other participating institutions have provided seed money for the initial development phase. Major funding will come from government and business grants as well as from tuition. Revenues will be shared in proportion to the contribution each partner institution makes. Tuition costs have not yet been determined but are expected to be substantially lower than tuition for traditional medical schools. “I’m very impressed with the foresight demonstrated by the UF College of Medicine administration in seeing the potential of this project,” Gessner said. “They recognize that IVIMEDS could become a great force in medical education in the near future, and they are willing to participate.”

Further information about IVIMEDS is available at www.ivimeds.org.