The Current Outlook in the Internationalization of Medical Education in Pakistan

Internationalization in medical education (ME) creates new potentials, and links among countries.

The present study aimed to investigate the current outlook on the internationalization of ME in Pakistan.

This case study had an outlook on the internationalization of ME in three top universities in Pakistan. The most significant components, characteristics, and variables related to ME were identified and categorized. The reports regarding the educational, research and health system performance of this country were collected by reviewing the grey literature, and visiting the official websites of these universities.

To improve their competitive capacities Pakistan’s top universities have considered some research parameters, unique strategies (motivational mechanisms for target groups of students, and professors, educational mechanisms and empowering students and professors, mechanisms for communicating with other pioneering universities, and mechanisms for communicating with the industry and exchanging intellectual capital), and short-, medium- and long-term plans for attracting capital, exchanging scientific products, and sharing experience.

Pakistan’s success in internationalization depends on factors, such as concentrating on science and technology, the enhanced role of the local government and the privatization of HE institutes, including modern ideas and making changes in the country’s cultural structure, using English as the primary language in universities, designing web portals based on international criteria, receiving tuition fees from international students, designing programs for international students, hiring foreign faculty members, and sending professors abroad to take part in specialized courses, and making efforts to monitor international initiatives and ensuring quality.