Doctors Academy

Doctors Academy

Type	Non-profit organisation
Industry	Medical Education and Training
Founded	2007
Headquarters	Cardiff, Wales
Area served	Worldwide
Services	Medical Education, Medical Training, Consultancy, Publications, Philanthropic Projects.^[1]
Website	doctorsacademy.org

Doctors Academy is an international doctors consortium founded in 2007 in Cardiff, Wales. The consortium comprises doctors, dentists and scientists that undertakes a diverse range of educational activities globally. The aim of the academy is to disseminate information and exchange medical knowledge, between professionals with diverse backgrounds and working in varied healthcare settings, from resource-rich to resource-poor nations, to bridge the knowledge and technical skills gap in the hope that this will bring about improvements to global health.^[2]

The Academy runs numerous medical and dental educational training programmes managed by the Doctors Academy Education and Editorial Board. The cost involved to develop and run these educational programmes is generated from the professional activities carried out by the permanent members of the Doctors Academy Group. All profit generated is then fed back into projects to reduce the cost of materials available to students and medical professionals, along with funding the academies innovative projects that are purposed to further global health.^[3] In addition, Doctors Academy offers a number of educational grants and bursaries to widen access to its courses each year.^[4] Educational activities are undertaken both independently and in conjunction with a number of organisations including the UK Royal Colleges, Universities in the United Kingdom, Hospitals and a variety of other charities and institutions. In particular courses are run with centres of excellence such as The Christie Hospital NHS Foundation Trust ^[5]^[6] and The Royal College of Surgeons.^[7]^[8]

Educational programmes have been consistently reviewed in a positive manner by numerous medical organisations and institutions based in the UK, including articles published by the BMJ,^[9]^[10] The Association of Surgeons in Training,^[11] and The Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh.^[12]

Doctors, Dentists and Scientists from any part of the world are eligible for affiliate membership with the academy, subject to verification of their academic qualification or professional registration with the respective board/council. Likewise, medical and dental students may be eligible for student membership, subject to verification of their registration with a recognised university or medical/dental school.

Courses

Doctors Academy undertakes a diverse range of educational activities and clinical skills training programmes for medical undergraduates and postgraduates from all parts of the globe. These include various regional/national training and study days,^[13] World University Anatomy Challenge, National (UK) University Anatomy Challenge, The International Medical Summer School, Academic Winter Conference, The International Academic and Research Conference, the Hull York Medical School National Undergraduate Student Conference,^[14] surgical skills workshops, laparoscopic colorectal surgery master class,^[15] and preparatory and revision courses for the Membership of the Royal College of Surgeons (MRCS), Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons (FRCS Exit exam), Membership of the Royal College of Physicians (MRCP) PACES, Diploma in Otolaryngology- Head and Neck Surgery (DOHNS) and Membership of the College of Emergency Medicine (MCEM). These events, managed by the Educational and Training Board of the Academy, are structured on a cost-neutral basis to ensure affordability and maximum benefit for the students/doctors. The teaching faculty and tutors are senior clinicians, active and retired consultants, clinical academics and teaching fellows.^[16]^[17]

Future Excellence International Medical Summer School

The week-long event is held annually at the University of Manchester and is aimed at helping medical undergraduates develop a strong clinical, academic and research portfolio that can help them to pursue a career in a competitive surgical or medical speciality on completion of their training at medical school. Knowledge about a students desired speciality is given through lectures and workshops help by medical professionals. The summer school was reviewed by Manchester Medical School's MedSoc newspaper last year.^[18]

Since its inception in 2009 by Dr Costas Fantis and the team at Doctors Academy, the International Medical Summer School has developed into an International event that welcomed over 250 students from over 115 universities representing 35 countries in 2014. Currently it is the biggest Medical Summer School of its kind in the world with student involvement directly responsible for both the organisation and running of the week long course.

Between 2009-2014 the event has been supported by; The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, UG department of Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Medical Protection Society, The British Royal Navy, The University of Dundee, The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, British Orthopaedic Association, British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons, The Royal College of Surgeons of England, The Royal College of General Practitioners, Royal Society of Medicine, British Medical Association, UK Space Biomedicine Association, Ethicon Inc., The Christie School of Oncology, iSurgicals, Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Medical Defence Union (MDU), Association for the Study of Medical Education (ASME), Royal College of Physicians, Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, Wesleyan Medical Sickness, Elsevier, Medical Protection Society (MPS), MedicPrint, Work The World, Toshiba, BMJ OnExamination.^[19]

Future Excellence International Academic & Research Conference

Since its inception in 2011, the International Academic and Research Conference has been purposed by the Academy to promote the exchange of medical and scientific knowledge. It allows motivated and ingenious medical students and junior doctors to present their work to their peers, either as an oral presentation or as a poster presentation whilst receiving critique from senior academic and medical professionals in their respective fields. The day also features keynote lectures from clinicians, academicians and scientists throughout.

Abstracts are accepted from the following areas:

Clinical Research
Laboratory Research
Clinical Audit
Service Evaluation (clinical or health-related)
Clinical and direct patient-related work (e.g., interesting and unique cases, case series, patient-focused developments, clinical innovations and innovation of medical devices)
Literature Review

Abstracts accepted for presentation are then published in the Doctors Academy journal, i.e. the annual print edition of the ‘World Journal of Medical Education and Research (WJMER)'.^[20]

Online Resources

Doctorexams is a subsidiary of Doctors Academy group and provides an online repository of educational resources to allow easy access to medical education anywhere in the world. Written by the Academies clinicians and academics the topical questions and mock exams include clinical images, radiology, osteology and data interpretation as well as specialist information on applied surgical anatomy, focused clinical history and examinations. Videos of clinical presentations, examinations and skills are also provided along with summary revision guides. The resources are based on past exams and geared towards the requirements of undergraduate medical and dental students, doctors appearing for entrance and medical licensing exams, and postgraduate trainees undertaking relevant speciality exams.^[21]

Publications

Doctors Academy Publications is the publication wing of Doctors Academy Group. Most of the education materials are developed by the core and associate members of Doctors Academy with others contributed by external authors contacted by the faculty for insight. The books are priced at a cost-neutral rate and any surplus income generated is used to further develop the publication division, supporting development of similar useful resources and subsiding the educational activities of the parent body to provide resources at the lowest cost possible to medical students and professionals.^[22]

World Journal of Medical Education & Research (WJMER)

The World Journal of Medical Education and Research (WJMER) is the online publication of the Doctors Academy Group. WJMER is an open access journal with no payment necessary for submission or publication of articles. This open access, peer-reviewed journal is published on a quarterly basis with the aim of promoting academia and research amongst all members of the multi-disciplinary healthcare team including doctors, dentists, scientists and students of these specialties from all around the world. The principal objective of the journal is to encourage the aforementioned professionals and individuals, from developing countries in particular, to publish their work. The journal intends to promote the healthy transfer of knowledge, opinions and expertise between those who have the benefit of cutting edge technology and those who need to innovate within their resource constraints.

To achieve WJMER’s aims the Academy publishes original research articles, review articles, interesting case reports with useful learning points, articles commenting on the clinical, scientific, social, political, and economic factors affecting health, as well as audits and opinion pieces. This is done in the hope that it will help to develop medical knowledge and provide optimal clinical care in different settings all around the world. The ISSN for the journal is 2052-1715.^[23]

References

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