Executive Summary
A new model of healthcare delivery is evolving worldwide in which: multidisciplinary teamwork between doctors, dentists, nurses and other healthcare professionals is mandatory; costs are cut by more emphasis on care in the community rather than expensive hospitals; and preventive medicine alongside public health information becomes widely disseminated via the revolution in information technology (IT). The UK registered charity International Medical Education Trust 2000 (IMET2000) was established in year 2000 to accelerate this program.
To prepare healthcare professionals for their changing roles, a revolution in education is needed. This need is as important in Palestine as anywhere else, especially in a society where economic resources are limited, yet the culture of educational excellence is strong. E-learning, video-conferencing, telemedicine, and website resources will never ever replace face-to-face learning but are cost and time-effective supplements which should be exploited to the full.
The Palestinian healthcare community have identified and repeatedly emphasized their need to:
- Improve community and family medicine.
- Develop multidisciplinary team building.
- Develop a culture of lifelong learning and continuous education.
- Upgrade certain specialty units.
- Improve the quality and number available of some specialties.
A Palestinian Health Sciences Education Centre is proposed to help satisfy the need. It should collaborate with all existing university faculties of medicine, dentistry and pharmacy, as well as colleges for nurses, laboratory technicians and all allied health professionals in Palestine but will be autonomous and independent financially. It should serve the whole Palestinian community and provide a scholastic bridge to similar international centres of excellence.
It is hoped that it will soon be incorporated into the UNESCO UNI-TWIN scheme and be internationally recognised as such. It will be funded through the UK registered charity International Medical Education Trust 2000 (IMET2000 No: 3931085) which has an office and bank account in Ramallah both registered with the Palestinian Authority under the title IMET2000 -Pal .It will be based in Palestine in the Ramallah premises and run entirely by Palestinians.Proper governance will be ensured by an IMET2000-Pal Board of Patrons , an Academic Advisory Board representing all healthcare professionals and an Executive Council.
