Asia-Pacific Association for

Problem-Based Learning in Health Sciences

History and Rationale for formation of the Association

PBL, established 30-40 years ago in North America as an educational philosophy to instill adult-learning, life-long learning and self-directed learning in professional schools, such as business and medicine, has increasingly been incorporated into academic curricula. It occurred much more so in health sciences such as medicine, dentistry, nursing, occupational health, physiotherapy, etc. across North America and Europe during the last two decades.  For example, more than 50% of the Canadian medical schools and about 25% of the US medical schools have adopted PBL in medical education.  It ranges from the full-fledge PBL curriculum originated at McMaster University in the late 1960s to the hybrid PBL model developed at Harvard University in the late 1980s.  Medical schools in UK also started a widespread move toward a a PBL curriculum since the 1995 publication of guidelines for “Tomorrow’s Doctor” by the General Medical Council. 

An inevitable worldwide reform of education in Health Sciences is evident.  However, the majority of the institutes in health sciences in the Asia-Pacific region remain deeply attached to the traditional curriculum, since it was imported from the West nearly a century ago.  This traditional curriculum, despite regular remedial modifications over the past century, remains conceptually unaltered.   It is still based on didactic teaching and rote learning.  Teaching of basic sciences and its effective application to clinical practice remains largely digressed.  The process of knowledge acquisition lags behind the rate of technological advancement and new discoveries. Attempts to cover this deficiency by offering more and more taught courses has resulted in congested curricula beyond reasonable digestion by students.

For the above reasons, adoption of the PBL concept in medical education and training of related health science professionals has been attempted in a number of institutes in this region with encouraging results. PBL is based on a holistic approach to education via integration, collaboration, self-management and self-discipline, which are also meritorious characteristics of many Asian cultures. Theoretically, it should be possible for PBL to flourish in Asian countries. Practically, to overcome the conservative barrier/resistance to innovative change in education in health sciences, such as PBL, and to effectively incorporate PBL in new curricula, we need a supportive forum to educate the academic public on the merits of PBL and its limitations. We need to learn from others who have successfully implemented PBL, whether in the Asia-Pacific region or from other parts of the world.  We need to research on the value of PBL within the context of the development of economics, culture and politics among the Asia-Pacific countries.

The 1^st Asia-Pacific PBL conference (generic, not just Health Sciences) was held in Hong Kong in December 1999.  In July 2000, the 1^st Symposium on Teaching and Learning in Higher Education was held in Singapore. It included a PBL symposium and a pre-conference PBL workshop. In November 2000, the PBL Committee of the Faculty of Medicine at the National University of Singapore (NUS), together with the Faculty of Dentistry and the Centre for Development of Teaching and Learning, organized the 1^st ASEAN Conference on PBL in Health Sciences. The conference was well attended by the academics and practitioners from the Asia-Pacific region. Due to this, the subsequent conference was renamed the 2^nd Asia-Pacific Conference on PBL in Health Sciences which was held in October 2001 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.. The 3^rd Asia-Pacific Conference on PBL in Health Sciences was held in November 2002 in Taipeh, Taiwan. It was at this meeting that it was decided that our Association Conference on PBL in Health Sciences would be held once in two years. Learning about PBL in health sciences via a shared vision in a cooperative forum will also attest to the value of PBL in any learning process at large.

Name of organization

This forum for PBL sharing shall be named Asia-Pacific Association for PBL in Health Sciences (APA-PHS).

Vision

The APA-PHS aims to strive for excellence in innovative education for health science professionals in the Asia-Pacific region with a special emphasis on PBL philosophy.

Mission Statement

• We will dedicate ourselves to achieving the vision of APA-PHS via cooperation and collaboration among members of various academic and professional institutes.
• We will facilitate regional collaboration among academic and professional institutes in health sciences by providing a forum conducive for technical and information sharing on PBL among members.
• We will develop and research innovative educational concepts in implementing PBL strategies suitable for Asia-Pacific region and in keeping with the global standard for better health care delivery.
• We will help sponsor the exchange of knowledge and experience on PBL via conferences, symposia and workshops and to encourage information sharing via publications.

Inauguration Meeting & Registration

The inaugural meeting (before registration) of APA-PHS was held in conjunction with the 1^st ASEAN Conference on PBL in Health Sciences, at NUS in the afternoon of 21 November 2000. The meeting was chaired by Professor Matthew Gwee, Chair of the PBL Committee of the Faculty of Medicine. A general support for the principle in the official establishment of APA-PHS was determined from all participants. Passing that, an election was held for establishing the new Executive Committee who will subsequently organize the office of APA-PHS, including the registration of the APA-PHS as an association. Due to unforeseen circumstances it took 2 years to formally register this international association. The association was formally registered with the Registrar of Societies, Malaysia in January 2003 (see appendix for the office bearers)

Structure and Membership

Initiating Party

The PBL Committee has just implemented a new medical curriculum with a hybrid-PBL model. The PBL Committee of the Faculty of Medicine at the National University of Singapore (NUS), together with the Faculty of Dentistry and the Centre for Development of Teaching and Learning, took the initiative of organizing the 1^st ASEAN Conference on PBL in Health Sciences during the first year of the millennium. The establishment of the Asia-Pacific Association for PBL in Health Sciences (APA-PHS) can provide an avenue for a more organized forum for the institutes in the Asia-Pacific region to collectively share their viewpoints and experience on the application of PBL in Health Sciences on a regular basis. 

Membership

Corporate members are membership holders from industrial, commercial, private or government institutions, which support the mission of APA-PHS.

Individual members are employed staff members of the member institutions and other individuals within or outside the Asia Pacific region, who support the mission of APA-PHS. 

The inaugural meeting shall discuss the criteria for membership, voting rights for members and membership fees. The decision of the Executive Committee is final.

Administrative Structure

The proposed organizational chart (honorary positions) is as follows:

President                                  Elected by members

Vice-President                          Elected by members

Past President                           President of the preceding year

Secretary (& Assistant)             Elected by members

Treasurer                                  Elected by members

Country Representatives            One elected representative from each member country

Board of Advisors                     Membership will be for 2 years, to be appointed by the Executive      Committee

Honorary Auditor                      Appointed

Functional Committees               Ad-hoc basis from all member institutions appointed by President in consultation with Advisory Committee as well as the Board of Advisors, working on the following areas:

·         PBL conferences, symposia and workshops

·         Newsletter and other publications

·         Public relations and liaison

The President, Vice-President, Past President, Secretary, Assistant Secretary, Treasurer and FIVE elected Country Representatives shall form the Executive Committee. The term of service for the Executive Committee shall be two years.  The Council Members consist of the Executive Committee members and all Country Representatives.

At the initial stage, the primary activities are to organize PBL workshops and conferences for the purpose of effective understanding PBL and faculty development. 

The previous list of office bearers are listed in Appendix 1

The present Executive Committee (2006-08) was elected in the 5^th APA-PHS conference in Surabaya in November 2006. The list of office bearers are:

President                      Professor Dr Bambang Prijambodo (Indonesia)

Vice-President              Professor Dr Nor Azila Mohd Adnan (Malaysia)

Past-President               Professor Dr Marita V.T. Reyes (Philippines)

Secretary                      Professor Dr Debra Sim Si Mui (Malaysia)

Assistant Secretary       Professor Dr Christina P.L. Tan (Malaysia)

Treasurer                      Professor Dr Zubaidah Abd Rahim (Malaysia)

Plus the elected Country Representatives of Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, Taiwan and Singapore.

Country Representatives and Auditors

Country	Name		Country	Name
Australia	Gregory Tan		New Zealand	Tony McKnight
Bahrain	Marwan F. Abu Hijleh		Philippines	Marita V.T. Reyes
Bangladesh	Zubair Amin		Sri Lanka	Dujeepa D Samarasekara
Hong Kong	Philip S.L. Beh		Singapore	Khoo Hoon Eng
Indonesia	Margerita Rehatta		Thailand	Arnuparp Lekhakula
Iran	Seyyed M.M. Hazavehei		Taiwan	Tsann-Long Hwang
Japan	Osamu Matsuo
Korea	Kwang-ho Meng		Auditor 1	Francis Achike
Malaysia	Rogayah Jaafar		Auditor 2	Marita V.T. Reyes

The 1^st  protem Executive Committee (2000-01) comprised of the following:

President                      Assoc Professor Dr Rethy Keith Chhem (Singapore)

Vice-President              Associate Professor Dr Nor Azila Mohd Adnan (Malaysia)

Secretary                      Assoc Professor Dr Grace Ong (Singapore)

Members                      Professor Dr Matthew Gwee (Singapore)

                                    Associate Professor Dr Khoo Hoon Eng (Singapore)

The 2^nd  protem Executive Committee (2001-02) elected at the 2^nd APA-PHS conference, held in Kuala Lumpur in October 2001, comprised of the following:

President                      Professor Dr Nor Azila Mohd Adnan (Malaysia)

Vice-President              Professor Dr Tsann-Long Hwang (Taiwan)

Past-President               Assoc Professor Dr Rethy Keith Chhem (Singapore)

Secretary                      Assoc Professor Dr Debra Sim Si Mui (Malaysia)

Treasurer                      Professor Dr Zubaidah Abd Rahim (Malaysia)

The 3^rd protein Executive Committee (2002-04) elected at the 3^rd APA-PHS conference, held in Taiwan in November 2002, comprised of the following:

President                                  Professor Dr Tsann-Long Hwang (Taiwan)

Vice-President                          Professor Dr Marita V.T. Reyes (Philippines)

Past-President                           Professor Dr Nor Azila Mohd Adnan (Malaysia)

Secretary                                  Assoc Professor Dr Debra Sim Si Mui (Malaysia)

Assistant Sec                            Assoc Professor Dr Christina P.L. Tan (Malaysia)

Treasurer                                  Professor Dr Zubaidah Abd Rahim (Malaysia)

The Executive Committee (2004-06), was formalized at the formal inaugural in September 2004 at the 4^th APA-PHS conference held in Manila, Philippines, after its registration in 2003, in Malaysia. The list of office bearers were:

President                      Professor Dr Tsann-Long Hwang (Taiwan)

Vice-President              Professor Dr Marita V.T. Reyes (Philippines) – To replace Dr Ramon      Acardio, who was initially nominated

Past-President               Professor Dr Nor Azila Mohd Adnan (Malaysia)

Secretary                      Assoc Professor Dr Debra Sim Si Mui (Malaysia)

Assistant Sec                Assoc Professor Dr Christina P.L. Tan (Malaysia)

Treasurer                      Professor Dr Zubaidah Abd Rahim (Malaysia)

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