The Fassa Project-A Medical School without Walls

A combination of a shortage and maldistribution of health manpower and growing public discontent about the quality of care available, associated with heightened expectations, has put a great strain on the health care delivery system of Iran, which even massive importation of foreign doctors has not eased. The Fassa project was conceived to address health needs by training first medical then other health personnel, based on the philosophy of community orientation, problem-based learning and student-based curriculum, combined with innovations in staff and student selection and training. This paper gives an account of what was planned and has taken place since the first intake of students in April 1978. Early results seem to indicate that students, no matter how rigid their past educational experience or how passive their learning habits, respond eagerly and most capably when given a chance.