This week RCSI is hosting its fifth annual International Education Forum (IEF) which will get underway today and run until Friday, 1 July. The Forum sees 26 staff from RCSI Bahrain and PU-RCSI (Perdana University), Malaysia join with more than 140 colleagues in Dublin, in attending this year's meeting. Guests from the College's collaborative partnerships and clinical sites are also invited to attend a selection of open sessions throughout the week.

The theme of this year's IEF is ‘Nurturing RCSI as an International Education Leader’. Monday's programme will focus on Excellence in Education where topics such as Professionalism, International Citizenship and Interprofessional Education will be discussed, while various initiatives from all three campuses (Dublin, Bahrain and Malaysia) will be presented. Professor Matthew Greenway (RCSI medicine Alumnus, Class of 2002) and Allison Brown, from McMaster University, Canada will give a guest lecture on ‘Creating a culture of quality through student centred programme design'.

Leadership in international education will be explored in day two of the IEF, with presentations taking place on items including academic integrity, fostering an international faculty and developing cultural competencies in international organisations. One of the highlights of Tuesday's schedule includes the keynote speech of the forum, which will be delivered by Caroline Renaud who is Director of the University of Ottowa's International Office. She will speak about ‘Creating internationalisation on our campus'.

On Wednesday, 29 June, the focus of the Forum will shift to the School of Medicine, with the morning sessions focusing on all medical cycles in all three campuses. The afternoon presentations will hone in on the Foundation Year course and curriculum. Professor John Collins, Professorial Fellow in the University of Melbourne, will give a guest talk on ‘Preparing doctors for employment'.

On Thursday, the discussions on the School of Medicine will continue; in the morning the Junior Cycle will be reflected on, while the Intermediate and Senior Cycle courses will be highlighted in the afternoon sessions in the ERC Beaumont.

The programme concludes on Friday with various open sessions, departmental meetings and networking opportunities. These include meetings on Research Summer Schools, item writing sessions and HR one-to-one sessions.

Professor Hannah McGee, Dean, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, RCSI said: "Our annual International Education Forum provides an invaluable opportunity for staff in our campuses in Dublin, Malaysia and Bahrain to meet face-to-face, to augment the year-long series of video-conferenced meetings, phone calls, emails and 'missives' that keep the three institutions connected across three different time zones. This year is all the more special, as it is the first year where RCSI will issue the same medical degree to our graduates in all three countries. I look forward to welcoming our colleagues to Dublin to share their experiences, perspectives and further discuss international education. I also look forward to our impressive line-up of guest speakers who have come all the way from Canada, Australia and Belgium."

In 2016, RCSI will grant the same degree to graduates at our campuses in three countries. This common medical degree demonstrates our commitment to excellence in healthcare education worldwide, connecting our colleges in Ireland, Bahrain and Malaysia and our network of Alumni across the globe.