In the Fall 2023 newsletter, the Office of International Medicine Programs (IMP) at the George Washington University (GW) School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS) announced an exciting new affiliation with the Ibn Sina University for Medical Sciences (ISUMS) in Amman, Jordan. IMP is pleased to share some recent developments on our activities to provide academic support to the ISUMS Faculty of Medicine, and, through our colleagues at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio School of Dentistry (UTHSCSA-Dental), for the ISUMS Faculty of Dentistry.
It is back-to-school season in Amman as the three current cohorts of ISUMS medical and dental students resumed classes in October 2024. In total, 100 medical students and 100 dental students are starting their first year at ISUMS in 2024-25; 100 medical students and 40 dental students are returning for their second year, and the 26 medical students in the inaugural class at ISUMS are beginning their third year.
On Oct. 1, 2024, leadership from GW IMP and UTHSCSA-Dental had the pleasure of hosting a virtual meet and greet with the new ISUMS first-year students and their families. The virtual meeting allowed leaders from IMP and UTHSCSA-Dental to introduce themselves and emphasize the value of the collaboration ISUMS has with each of these American universities. ISUMS is unique amongst the medical and dental schools in Jordan in having this close academic collaboration with universities in the United States.
During academic year 2023-24, IMP began hosting series of student advisement webinars for ISUMS. Students heard from leaders in the GW SMHS Office of Student Affairs, including Lorenzo Norris, MD, associate dean for student affairs and administration, on a “Road Map to Residency and Professional Fulfillment” and Pritha Ghosh, MD, assistant dean of student affairs for the MD program, on “How to Study in Medical School.” Webinars will continue this academic year with topics such as professionalism and, for students who aspire to postgraduate training in the United States, how to prepare for the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step I.
Other recent major milestones included a GW SMHS adjunct faculty member successfully completing instruction of three courses during the Fall 2023 semester at ISUMS. In August 2024, a PhD student sponsored by ISUMS started his five-year GW Cancer Biology program in GW’s Integrated Biomedical Sciences. Upon completion of the PhD program, he will return to ISUMS as a member of the basic sciences teaching faculty.
Additionally, using the expertise of the GW SMHS Center for Faculty Excellence (CFE), plans are underway to establish a faculty development program for ISUMS. In June 2024, Huda Ayas, EdD ’06, MBA ’98, MHSA ’93, associate dean for international medicine and executive director of IMP, Debra Herrmann, DHSc, MSHS/MPH, director of the CFE, and Peter Loomer, DDS, PhD, MBA, dean of UTHSCSA-Dental were warmly welcomed in Amman during a week-long visit to conduct a faculty needs assessment. Commencing this academic year, IMP and CFE will host virtual workshops for ISUMS faculty on topics requested by the faculty themselves and ISUMS leadership.
We look forward to continuing our work with ISUMS and UTHSCSA-Dental on promoting medical and dental education and training in Jordan. For more information on this collaboration with ISUMS contact the IMP office at impinfo@gwu.edu.