Improvement of the medical education situation in Sudan: Collegectomy is not the only management option

Abstract

Sudan witnessed an increase in the number of colleges of medicine after the higher education revolution in the early 1990s. Many authors writing about medical education, both in Sudan and across the world, have described a negative correlation between the increased number of medical colleges and the quality of education provided by those colleges. Many educational leaders in Sudan are calling for action to deal with the issues arising from this great expansion of medical colleges, with opinions varying from collegectomies (closure of the colleges) to merging colleges.
Several strategies have been implemented in Canada, Iran, the Philippines and South Africa to deal with similar situations. These have included college support such as funding or technical support, changing the colleges’ educational strategies, modifying the curriculum, integrating (rather than merging) colleges, and collegectomies.
This paper outlines possible actions to be taken in response to the expansion of medical colleges in the Sudanese context. It explores the international experience with the situation in an attempt to augment the discussion with options that may help to improve medical education.