The World Directory of Medical Schools is a public database of institutions that provide
medical education
Medical education is education related to the practice of being a medical practitioner, including the initial training to become a physician (i.e., medical school and internship) and additional training thereafter (e.g., residency, fellowship, ...
. There are over 3,600
medical schools listed in the directory. The directory is published as a collaboration of the
World Federation for Medical Education (WFME) and the
Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research (FAIMER).
Database
For the database, a "medical school" is defined as an ''"educational institution that provides a complete or full program of instruction leading to basic medical qualification; that is, a qualification that permits the holder to obtain a license to practice as a medical doctor or physician''". As of 2022, the database has records for more than 3,600 medical schools that are operational and more than 190 that have ceased to be operational.
It was created by merging WMFE's
AVICENNA Directory for Medicine with FAIMER's
International Medical Education Directory The International Medical Education Directory (IMED) was a public database of worldwide medical schools. The IMED was published as a joint collaboration of the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) and the Foundation for Adva ...
(IMED) to produce a single comprehensive resource, including the schools in each of the prior directories.
History
The
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level o ...
(WHO) originally published the World Directory of Medical Schools from 1953 to 2007 before transferring responsibility to the World Federation for Medical Education (WFME) which renamed it the AVICENNA Directory for Medicine. A separate International Medical Education Directory (IMED) had been published by the Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research (FAIMER) since 2002. In March 2012, the
AVICENNA and
IMED directories agreed to merge into a single comprehensive directory. The new World Directory of Medical Schools officially launched in April 2014 managed by both WMFE and FAIMER. The Avicenna and IMED directories were subsequently discontinued.
Sponsors
The major sponsors are the
Australian Medical Council,
Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates According to the US Department of Education, the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates is "the authorized credential evaluation and guidance agency for non-U.S. physicians and graduates of non-U.S. medical schools who seek to practice ...
, and the
Medical Council of Canada.
References
External links
* {{Official website, https://www.wdoms.org
WFME websiteFAIMER website
Organizations established in 2014
Medical databases
Medical education
International medical and health organizations