The Faculty of Medicine Gadjah Mada University is proud to host the 15th ASEAN Medical Dean’s Summit (AMDS) in 2025, held in Yogyakarta. This event brings together deans and representatives from leading medical universities in the ASEAN region, as part of the ASEAN Medical Schools Network (AMSN). The network has now grown to 25 members.
This forum is an important opportunity to strengthen collaboration across countries to improve the quality of medical education, accelerate innovation in educational technology, and research and student development with real impact.
Since its formation in 2012, AMSN has become a strategic platform for medical education institutions in the ASEAN region to work together to create excellence in medical education, improve the quality of public health, and foster solidarity through shared values and mutual support.
Under the theme “Building Impactful Collaborations: Transforming Needs into Actions”, AMDS 2025 encourages the creation of new partnerships and the strengthening of existing networks. We must ensure that the shared needs that have been identified can be translated into concrete actions – whether in the form of educational programs, collaborative research projects, or capacity building for students and faculty. This action must be sustainable and have a clear framework so that the results can be felt by each institution and the wider community.
AMDS 2025 is expected to be a platform to design a framework of collaborative programs that can be implemented in the short term and evaluated periodically every year. In this way, tangible results of the collaboration can be reported in future AMDS forums and become part of the ongoing contribution to medical education in ASEAN.
Through the implementation of AMDS 2025 which takes place from May 25 to 27, 2025, FK-KMK UGM hopes that this meeting will be an important milestone in the joint journey towards a more integrated, innovative, and impactful ASEAN medical education community. All stakeholders are invited to make the most of this opportunity: listening to each other, sharing experiences, and acting together for a better future that is oriented towards the benefit of the people in the ASEAN region.
AMDS 2025 raises a variety of important themes that are relevant to the dynamics of the times, especially in the midst of rapid technological development and the complexity of global health challenges. Some of the main issues discussed included the latest challenges in the teaching and learning process in medicine, innovation and development of educational technology to support more effective learning, the future of research in medicine, and the importance of elective programs in supporting the personal development of medical students.
Medical students from various AMSN member universities also enlivened this forum by participating in the poster presentation session. This activity became a place for students from dozens of universities in the ASEAN region to share ideas and innovations. Themes raised reflected the spirit of cross-country collaboration, ranging from strengthening cooperation through academic and non-academic activities, improving the quality of medical education to answer global health challenges, to efforts to empower young ASEAN doctors through innovation and collaboration with real impact.
AMSN was formed by 12 founding institutions, namely Faculty of Medicine, Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University (Thailand); PAPRSB Institute of Health Sciences, Universiti Brunei Darussalam; Faculty of Medicine, University of Health Sciences, Cambodia; International University, Cambodia (Faculty of Medicine); Faculty of Medicine, University of Indonesia; University of Health Sciences, Lao PDR; Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya, Malaysia; University of Medicine I, Yangon, Myanmar; University of Medicine, Mandalay, Myanmar; College of Medicine, University of the Philippines; Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore; and Hanoi Medical University, Vietnam.
The organizational structure of the ASEAN Medical Schools Network consists of four working groups, namely: a) Education working group led by Universiti Malaya, b) Research working group led by National University of Singapore, c) Student Exchange working group led by University of Indonesia, and d) Quality Assurance and Accreditation working group led by Siriraj Hospital Faculty of Medicine.
This activity is in line with the Partnership of The Goals especially supporting goal 3 Healthy and Prosperous Life, goal 4 Quality Education, goal 9 Innovation Industry and Infrastructure, and goal 9 Infrastructure and goal 17 Partnerships to Achieve Goals. (Author: Dian Paramitasari/Humas, Translated by: Tedy Aprilianto)
