Abstract
The 22 countries of the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) exhibit considerable diversity, both culturally and economically. This paper collated published data on the status of medical schools in the Region to provide information to assist in future planning. Information about medical schools was obtained from the International Medical Education Directory, the Avicenna Directory, the WHO/EMR Health Professions Education Directory and the Institute for International Medical Education's Database of Medical Schools. The registered number of medical schools in the Region varied according to the different directories. There were variations in the language used for instruction (some used more than one language) and the density of medical schools per million population. The density and number of medical schools in the country were not related to the number of working physicians which ranged from 2.1 per 10 000 population in Afghanistan to 28.3 in Egypt. An updated directory of medical schools in the Region is much needed. Les 22 pays de la Region de la Mediterranee orientale offrent une diversite considerable, a la fois culturelle et economique. Le present article a recueilli des donnees publiees sur la situation des facultes de medecine dans la Region afin de fournir des informations qui contribueront a la planification dans les annees a venir. Les informations concernant les facultes de medecine ont ete obtenues a partir des annuaires International Medical Education Directory, Avicenna Directory, Health Professions Education Directory du Bureau regional de l'OMS pour la Mediterranee orientale et de la base de donnees Database of Medical Schools de l'Institute for International Medical Education. Le nombre enregistre de facultes de medecine dans la Region variait en fonction des differents annuaires. Il existait des differences dans la langue utilisee pour l'enseignement (certains etablissements utilisaient plus d'une langue) et dans la densite des facultes de medecine par million d'habitants. La densite et le nombre de facultes de medecine par pays n'etaient pas lies au nombre de medecins en activite, compris entre 2,1 et 28,3 pour 10 000 habitants en Afghanistan en Egypte respectivement. Il est grandement necessaire de disposer d'un annuaire actualise des facultes de medecine dans la Region.