The first General Annual Meeting of the newly announced Saudi Society for Medical Education (SSME) in Jeddah was held on Monday at the auditorium of King Abdul Aziz University Hospital. The meeting was held to select members for the society's administration board and to clarify its general goals and strategies inside the Kingdom and abroad. The meeting was headed by Dr. Abdulaziz Boker, director of medical education in the KAAU, Dr. Sulaiman Merdad of the Faculty of Medicine at Umm Al-Qura University, Dr. Adnan Al- Mazro'a, Dean of the Medicine Faculty at KAAU, and Dr. Abdul Mon'em Al-Hyani, the vice dean of quality improvement in the Faculty of Medicine. According to Boker, the SSME office in Jeddah will focus on the promotion and development of scientific thought in medical and health education. “We will offer consultations in medical and health education, in addition to facilitating the exchange of scientific publications and ideas in these related areas among relevant bodies and institutions inside the Kingdom and abroad,” said Boker. “By achieving communication among members of the society in the form of team work, we can transfer requisite medical and educational knowledge to other people in the community.” Hayani said there will be two main future schemes of activities within the SSME. The first scheme comprises the promotion of research and scientific consultation, editing and translation of related scientific books and publications, and holding conferences, seminars and workshops on some health education topics. “The publications of journals, periodicals and news letters, in addition to participation in relevant local and international exhibitions and scientific competitions, will be part of the second future scheme,” said Hayani. “I hope that the Western region, and especially Jeddah, would benefit from establishing the Jeddah Office There is no doubt about the fruitful results that have been achieved by the main office of the SSME at King Khalid University in Abha, which was established in 2002. The Jeddah office is a positive addition to the two other offices of Abha and Riyadh,” Hayani added. __
