Existing collaboration

The LUMC maintains a broad and active collaboration with the Faculty of Medical Sciences (FMeW) of the Anton de Kom University of Suriname (AdeKUS). Students from both institutions participate in internships, as the Academic Hospital Paramaribo is an affiliated partner of the LUMC. LUMC staff members offer internships in their departments to incoming Surinamese staff and students. The LUMC has also sent staff members to the four medical institutes in Paramaribo. We have therefore established a unique and concrete network of shared experiences and knowledge. This collaboration is supported by a strong belief in the relevance and impact of this shared approach. It is important for Dutch students to learn that providing healthcare in a middle-income country is not always easy, while Surinamese students learn different approaches to treating patients. Key themes in the collaboration are: human dignity, equality, solidarity, respect, appreciation, illness prevention and health promotion.

Impact of assessment quality

Students on the two sides of the Atlantic are assessed in a completely different way, which impacts the quality of their diploma. The Center for Innovation in Medical Education at the LUMC, well known for its knowledge of assessment methods, wants to guarantee the quality of the workplace assessment and share its knowledge of assessment methods in the medical domain and beyond. In the past few years, LUMC educators have held workshops on the basics of assessment (how to make multiple choice questions meaningful) when visiting Suriname for other collaborative meetings.

Project goals

The main goal of this project is to collaborate on each other’s curriculum, because of the students’ mobility. Knowledge of modern assessment methods will be transferred to students, teachers and physicians working in medical education and to teaching staff of other faculties at the AdeKUS.

The project has three main target groups: students, teacher-physicians in the Faculty of Medical Sciences and experienced teachers at the AdeKUS in general (including ‘pre-clinical teachers’ from the Faculty of Medical Sciences). Accordingly, the sub-goals of the project are to construct assessment modules that specifically target the important issue of workplace assessment in the medical field and to provide more in-depth training in assessment for the general teaching staff. In addition, for sustainability purposes, a smaller group of support staff and teaching staff will receive in-depth training to ensure that AdeKUS staff members are equipped to be part of the teacher training team in the area of assessment at the University going forward. To this end, both a visit to the LUMC and a train-the-trainer workshop are envisioned. The materials for students and staff attending the workshop will be incorporated in the professionalisation resources of the Quality Assurance department. Combining the training of future trainers with incorporation of the developed assessment modules in the teacher professionalisation resources of the AdeKUS will make it possible for the project results to be sustained for the future.

Internationalisation at Leiden University and LUMC

Leiden University is developing a strategic long-term collaboration policy for a small number of priority countries/regions – China, Indonesia and Latin America and the Caribbean – to strengthen cooperation and establish structural relationships with universities, organisations and governmental bodies in the priority regions. Suriname is part of the Latin America and the Caribbean region.

Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) wishes to ensure that essential elements of Leiden University’s internationalisation are embedded in its core business of education. The LUMC sets clear goals that respond to the needs of its students for international experience, and at the same time believes in helping to bridge the divide in terms of educational disparities worldwide. The LUMC believes that students should be exposed to much more diverse problems than encountered at home, and wishes to create international classrooms where different views exist, in order to generate stronger discussions where problems can be approached with fresh solutions.

Anton de Kom University and internationalisation

Given the small size of the country, where the AdeKUS enjoys the unique position of being the only public research university, international collaborations are sought with a wide range of partners, both in the Latin America and the Caribbean region and worldwide. An emphasis on sustainable networks based on solidarity and trust is one of the principles in the AdeKUS internationalisation strategy. The AdeKUS therefore greatly values long-term partnerships, such as the one between its Faculty of Medical Sciences and the LUMC, which helped to set up the medical education programme when the Faculty first started.