American medical schools account for three of the seven schools awarded the ASPIRE to Excellence Award given by the Association for Medical Education in Europe (AMEE). The three U.S. school’s won awards for Social Accountability (Florida International University, Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine & Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University) and University of California, San Francisco won for the category of Faculty Development.
Begun in 2012, the AMEE began the ASPIRE initiative in 2012, which “encourages and promotes outstanding performance and excellence in education. An ASPIRE award allows schools to be recognized internationally for their excellence in education.” Four years later, the international award has brought to light the need for the promotion of excellence in education aside from chasing rankings as the penultimate goal for educational medical institutions. Thus, to promote this goal, the ASPIRE award recognizes four areas within the umbrella of education: Assessment of Students, Student Engagement in the curriculum and in the school, Social Accountability of the School, and Faculty Development. ASPIRE’s long-term goal is to contribute to a “holistic assessment of excellence in education in a medical, dental, or veterinary school.”
In a local news article on The Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University, a winner in the category of Social Responsibility, Dr. Robert Carroll, the Associate Dean for Medical Student Education, recognized the importance of the award. Not only was it an honor for The Brody School of Medicine, to be awarded for its level of care for the local community, but also for school leaders to understand “where they could improve.”
Congratulations to all of the U.S. medical schools as well as those winners abroad.
