A Brief History of the Establishment:
The Saudi Scientific Society for Medical Education is a Saudi scientific society established in accordance with the rules governing the scientific societies in Saudi universities issued by the decision of the Higher Education Council No. (10/15/1420H, 22/1/2000G) adopted at the fifteenth meeting of the Higher Education Council held on 1/2/1420H 18/2/1999G The Supreme Court with the honorable guidance No. 284 / M dated 16/3/1421H, 18/6/2000G . The Society was established at King Khalid University in 2002 by a decision of the University Council based on the recommendation of the Scientific Council. The Founding Committee was formed and started the Founding Works of the Society until 1425H (2004). The Assembly was declared national and its General Assembly was elected. For the first session, during the first scientific meeting of the Society hosted by King Khalid University in Abha. The meetings of the Board of Directors and the General Assembly took place during three successive sessions and dealt with activating the objectives of the Association in accordance with its mission and vision, and this has gone a long way, especially in the aspects of scientific conferences, international cooperation, and sub-offices.
A message from the founding President
The Saudi Society for Medical Education (SSME) was established after the approval of the university board at King Khalid University, in the year 1423 H (2002). This was followed by the scientific council’s decision to form the Foundation Committee. The first medical education conference was then held in Abha.
The first few years after the establishment of the Society witnessed several initiatives to meet the aims and objectives of the society. Five medical education conferences were held in Abha, Taif, and Jeddah. These conferences were utilized to start and augment good networking of members and potential collaborators. Similarly, these conferences helped to put the importance of medical education issues on the national agenda. The sixth conference was held in Riyadh by the college of medicine at King Fahad Medical city in collaboration with SSME and a new name was given to these medical education conferences: Saudi International Medical Education Conference (SIMEC). This conference was a successful start of a regular national conference with an international flavor. Collaboration with the Medical Deans Committee was another cornerstone that was established to streamline common objectives.
The establishment of branch offices in Riyadh, Jeddah, and Dammam was the other initiative. These offices were given the mandate to carry all activities of the SSME at a local level. Some of the other activities include support of some of the national initiatives related to the formulation of national outcomes for medical education in the Kingdom, Staff development and CPD activities, and expression of the SSME stand on some policy issues like university hospitals and sending undergraduate students to study abroad.
We are certain that significant progress in medical education has occurred over the last two decades, and the Saudi medical education became an active participant on the international stage. This include, curricular development, number of publications in medical education, postgraduate medical education programs, and the number of qualified Saudis in medical education. Also, we hope that SSME has participated significantly in such development and that it will continue to do so in the future of medical education in Saudi Arabia.
