Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 7-9 August 2012

The 2012 annual symposium of the U.S.-government sponsored Medical Education Partnership Initiative (MEPI), which supports medical education and research in Sub-Saharan Africa. MEPI has granted awards to 13 medical schools in 12 African countries for a period of five years. The goal is to transform African medical education—by increasing the quantity, quality and retention of graduates with the training and skills most relevant the health needs of their national populations.

MEPI is jointly administered by the and the . George Washington University serves as the coordinating center in conjunction with its African partner, the African Center for Global Health and Social Transformation, a think tank and network of African and international leaders in health and development, based in Kampala, Uganda.

See also: the

Coimbatore, India 5-8 September 2012

The theme of the 2012 Southeast Asian International and Indian National Conference on Health Professions Education will be on "Social accountability: Responding to Societal needs through Quality Assurance and Accreditation in Health Professions Education."

It will be held at PSG Institute of Medical Sciences in Coimbatore, India and is co-sponsored by the South East Asia Regional Association of the World Federation for Medical Education, the World Health Organization-South East Asia Regional Office, and the Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research. 

Social accountability of medical schools is defined by the WHO as "the obligation to direct their education, research and service activities towards addressing the priority health concerns of the community, the region, and /or the nation they have a mandate to serve. The priority health concerns are to be identified jointly by governments, health care organizations, health professional and the public".

Medical education accreditation standards in many parts of the world are being rewritten with an explicit social accountability framework. The focus of this conference will be towards understanding and promoting health sciences education that is aligned with health needs of society, and designing accreditation standards and processes for health sciences education that reflect these principles of social accountability. 

Karachi, Pakistan 12-14 December 2012

Aga Khan University's 16th annual National Health Science Research symposium is focusing on "Health Professions Education." The symposium aims to develop a greater understanding of global trends, best practices, and innovations in developing effective health professionals for the 21st century. The focus will be on breaking barriers between education and service, and between the education of different health professionals (physicians, nurses and allied health professionals) across the continuum of undergraduate, postgraduate and continuing professional education.

One expected outcome of the symposium will be to form interest groups focusing on these sub-themes of the symposium:

1. Education for service: the role of inter-professional education

2. Curricular enhancement

3. Technology-enhanced learning

These groups will develop strategic recommendations for a concerted move at the national level, identifying national research and development agenda relevant to the symposium goals. They will also look towards strengthening linkages between institutions working on similar initiatives nationally, regionally and internationally.