The past, present and future of medical education in Cambodia

This paper describes the past, present, and future of medical education in Cambodia. Although doctor training began in 1902, the first medical school was not founded until 1946. Since the colonial era, the curriculum and teaching strategies have been strongly influenced by the French system, dominated by didactic lectures and the apprenticeship model. Three chronic issues have plagued medical education in the country following the Khmer Rouge regime: a shortage of doctors, poor-quality training, and lack of relevance to the current and future population needs. An increasing number of medical schools and yearly student enrollment have addressed the first issue. Today, the fundamental challenges have shifted from quantity to ensuring the quality and relevance of medical education. Competency-based medical education (CBME) has been adopted as a new curricular model to tackle the latter two issues. Active collaboration between government institutions, public universities, and development partners drives this curricular reform at the national and institutional levels. This paper further examines the challenges associated with medical education and proposes recommendations.