MED-NET Newsletter 1
August 1997

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In this issue:

• Editorial
• What is MED-NET?
• MED-NET Conference
  May 1-9, 1997
• Medical News

Editoral

A year after the start of the Medical Education and Didactics Network (MED-NET) we proudly present to you the first MED-NET Newsletter. We intend to keep you informed on a regular basis, not only on the latest activities within the Network, but also on recent activities concerning medical education.

We can look back on a year of hard work, although realising that a lot of work still has to be done to make the Network a success. With the financial support of the European Commission the initiators started to work on the MED-NET-project.
To meet the MED-NET objectives the Task Force, formed by the former ICP coordinators, decided to install 6 different Reference Groups, each to elaborate a specific topic concerning medical education. During the first phase of the project, the reference groups were asked to define their objectives, to formulate subject-related academic questions and, furthermore, to present the results at the first MED-NET conference. A 7th Reference Group was made responsible for communication and information of the network. In the mean time the MED-NET coordination and management made every effort to convince all those working in the field of medical education in Europe to become a member of MED-NET. And not without success. The Network already has 170 members all over Europe, from medical faculties to student organisations and from medical schools to medical associations. The first year of MED-NET was closed with a conference to start the discussion forum on medical education in Europe.

Besides general information about MED-NET, this Newsletter mainly informs you about the first MED-NET Conference, held May 1-3 1997 in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. As the first summer-days came to take a look, MED-NET members and others interested in medical education gathered in Rotterdam. The conference program was busy, the lectures were interesting and the workshops were constructive. During the plenary sessions on the first day, the reference groups reported on the work done so far and outlined their objectives. Invited experts presented key lectures on the state of the art in the various fields. During the second day the participants discussed issues on medical education and put forward new ideas and solutions for cooperation and exchange. On the third and last day of the conference, the results of the workshops were presented in a plenary session. All who attended the conference will surely have benefitted from it. Participants not only took the opportunity to discuss the topics of MED-NET, but also to meet with their contact persons within the Erasmus Programmes. Moreover, the possibility was offered to discuss the SOCRATES Programme and to take organisational decisions with partners for future student exchange.
Last but not least, we would like to thank both the PAOG Office in Rotterdam and Jan and Sjoert for their excellent organisation of this conference.

Finally, we hope you enjoy reading this Newsletter. Information relevant to the members of MED-NET and fitting into the scope of MED-NET can be published in the Newsletter. Don't hesitate to inform us. The next Newsletter will be published at the end of the year. Till then!

What is MED-NET?

• a meeting point for staff and student exchange within the SOCRATES Programme
• the 'complete picture' of Medical Education
• a platform for communication and discussion on actual topics in medical education
• a provider of up-to-date information on medical didactic developments in Europe

The development of Europe as a multi-cultural society will increase the need for educating Euro-doctors. Both, technological developments and growing medical knowledge have a fundamental impact on the role and structure of medical education. The European dimension requires mutual recognition of professional qualifications as well as of vocational training and education. MED-NET wants to contribute to the development of medical education and to the increase of its quality and effectiveness. MED-NET was born in May 1996 in Sardegna, Italy. Many members of the - then still - existing ICP's were interested in establishing the Medical Educational and Didactics Network. Each of them for different reasons. Thus, the Network is based on operational cooperation between European universities. It is a thematic network within the SOCRATES-ERASMUS programme of the European Union. MED-NET is directed by a Task force, which has been appointed for the project period (i.e. three years), to take the most important decisions concerning the organisation and future development of the Network.

MED-NET offers a forum for discussion and communication on actual topics in medical education in Europe. MED-NET is also an information source and an intermediate for information exchange between all who are involved in medical education: faculties of medicine medical schools, hospitals, teachers, education managers and students.

Institutions interested in becoming a member of MED-NET can apply for a membership by sending a letter of endorsement to the MED-NET coordination and management. No membership fee will be asked yet. In the future, when MED-NET has to become self-supporting, however, this may change.

MED-NET Conference
May 1-9, 1997

The first conference was held at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences of the Erasmus University, Rotterdam (The Netherlands), May 1-3 1997. The main objectives of the conference were to give an inventory of and to start the discussion on Medical Education in Europe. Conference proceedings will be available in September 1997.

This first MED-NET Conference brought together a multidisciplinary and qualified assembly of participants, starting the basic discussion on the various programmed issues. For well-founded input of academic expertise on medical education a reference group on each specific programmed topic was installed, and experts were invited to present key lectures. Typical issues at the MED-NET Conference were:

• Education survey
• Curriculum Innovation
• Professionalisation of Teachers
• Postgraduate Education
• Student Exchange with ECTS
• International Health

Medical News

On the 21st of September 1986 the Egyptian surgeon Yacoub performed a successful heart and lung transplantation on a baby of 10 weeks. This happened in the British Harefield Hospital in London. The little boy was the youngest patient of all times who had such an operation. His heart was only as big as a golfball and the lungs were smaller than a simple playcard. The boy made it without problems.

Chocolate contains chemical products which cause the same reactions in the brain as canabis. This conclusion has been published by Nature. The question is whether the concentration is high enough to cause a reaction.

The smaller you are as a child the higher the risk is to become unemployed when you are older. This has been published by the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. Scientists followed the life of 2256 men, born in the same week of 1958. It seemed that children who belonged to the smallest of the class when they were 7 years old, had almost 3 times more chance to become unemployed as an adult. The scientists stated that growth is a good measure for the environment the child is living in. Bad conditions of living delay the growth, but also the intellectual development.