Medical Education and Exchange Project (MEEP)

This program extends the Summer Medical Education and Exchange Program (SMEEP) piloted in 1997 at the Maternal and Child Health Research Center (MCHRC)
in Ulan Bator and repeated in 2002. The goal of this project is to enhance the knowledge and skills
of the pediatric professionals at
the MCHRC and at the National Mongolia Medical University. We offer the skills and knowledge of our US pediatricians to evaluate the current pediatric medicine curriculum and develop a plan for gradually and progressively implementing standards for medical education for both Mongolian medical students and current physicians. At this time, techniques for medical diagnosis and treatment in Mongolian medical institutions is far behind that of Western standards. It is the aim of this project to introduce case-based learning and other modern methods of medical treatment in way that is sustainable by the Mongolian healthcare system. With a team of academic physicians and surgeons from the USC Keck School of Medicine and Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, we will ensure the long-term goal of creating a national core of physicians trained according to the principles and models of Post Modern medicine.

Under the MEEP initiative, special attention has been focused on offering input to the leadership of the Pediatric Department at the Mongolia Medical University, particularly in relation to pediatric curriculum for medical students. Traveling observerships to study in the United States will be offered to selected Mongolian physicians who will return to Mongolian institutions to occupy key training and systems-change positions. Mongolian MDs will be identified by the Mongolian Ministry of Health. The physicians will receive stipends, living arrangements, English language skills and personal health insurance. As many as four MDs will train between 3 and 6 months in the USA. They may be able to acquire hands-on experience with patients if allowed by the California Board of Medical Quality Assurance. Areas will focus on:

• Pediatric Intensive Care
• Pediatric Orthopedic Surgery
• Pediatric Surgery
• Pediatric Radiology/Imaging
• Pediatric Cardiology
• Pediatric Hematology and Oncology
• Infectious Disease

These individuals will become the nidus around which contemporary principles of pediatric practice will crystallize. Within a few years Mongolia will have an internal resource of qualified and well educated pediatric professionals who will be positioned to guide the transition to 21st Century practice.