(Boston)—Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) has received an initial grant of $260,000 from the Lincy Foundation to support a curriculum development project at the Yerevan State Medical University (YSMU) in Armenia. The project will develop a framework to make medical education in Armenia comparable to that in the US and Western Europe. BUSM and the YSMU will use the BUSM curriculum as a model and modify it as appropriate for Armenian students. The funds will support the first and second years of the three-year project.
"We are enormously grateful to the Lincy Foundation for their support of this important educational project. Working jointly with Yerevan State Medical University we hope to create the infrastructure for a dynamic, state-of-the-art learning environment for Armenian medical students," explained Aram Chobanian, MD, President Emeritus, Boston University and Dean Emeritus of the School of Medicine.
While the Yerevan State Medical University has a distinguished history as the foremost medical school in Armenia and was considered one of the leading medical institutions in the Soviet Union, it has not kept up with the rapid advances in medial science that have occurred over the past 25 years in North America and Western Europe. Medical education in Armenia continues to reflect the old Soviet system: teaching is to a great extent didactic; class sizes are large; and hands-on clinical training is minimal. Students have tended to be observers rather than active members of the clinical team.
The project will provide an in-depth analysis of the current Yerevan State Medical University curriculum, visits of senior faculty and medical students between the sister institutions, online access and adaptation of BUSM course materials for YSMU students, development of new courses, enrollment of senior medical students from Armenia in clinical clerkships at BUSM.
Gohar Kyalyan, PhD, MD, Rector of YSMU and co-investigator of the grant, has developed the project with Chobanian. "We are excited about the opportunity to work with Boston University to transform medical education at YSMU and in Armenia as a whole. The grant from the Lincy Foundation is particularly appreciated at this time of economic crisis for the world as a whole as well as for Armenia," said Kyalyan.
Established in 1973, Boston University School of Medicine is a leading academic and research institution, with an enrollment of nearly 630 students and more than 1,100 full and part-time faculty members. It is known for its programs in arthritis, cardiovascular disease, cancer, human genetics, pulmonary disease, and dermatology, among others, and is one of the major biomedical research institutions in the United States. The School is affiliated with Boston Medical Center, its principal teaching hospital, and Boston Veterans Administration Medical Center. Along with Boston Medical Center and 15 community health centers, the School of Medicine is a partner in Boston HealthNet.