Reforming Graduate Medical Education in Syria: A Strategic Framework for Post-Conflict Recovery

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Public Health
• Healthcare Systems

Background:

• Syria's healthcare system and graduate medical education (GME) severely disrupted by over a decade of armed conflict.
• Deteriorating educational standards and physician shortages due to damaged infrastructure, faculty displacement, and fragmented oversight.
• Reforming GME is a national and global priority during Syria's post-conflict recovery.

Purpose of the Study:

• Evaluate the current state of graduate medical education (GME) in Syria.
• Propose a strategic framework for rebuilding a standardized, sustainable, and internationally aligned GME system.
• Utilize stakeholder engagement, data collection, and comparative analysis for framework development.

Main Methods:

• Conducted workshops with over 45 stakeholders including medical educators and diaspora physicians in Damascus and Aleppo.
• Administered pre-workshop surveys assessing program structure, oversight, curricula, evaluation, and infrastructure across 21 institutions.
• Incorporated SWOT analysis and global best practices from countries like Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the US into workshop discussions.

Main Results:

• Significant variability found in GME program oversight, clinical training quality, and evaluation standards.
• Only 57% of institutions reported formal curricula; 81% conducted trainee evaluations.
• Key challenges identified: inadequate funding, lack of accreditation, insufficient faculty development, and limited research access.

Conclusions:

• Recommendations include establishing a national accreditation council, modernizing curricula, and investing in faculty training.
• A phased framework is proposed for rebuilding medical education infrastructure and training a resilient health workforce.
• Coordinated, multilevel efforts are essential to implement competency-based education and align training with global standards.