Medical schools must be strongly improved in many low- and middle-income countries.

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Access to proper healthcare must be a fundamental right of every human being in any country. To prepare good medical doctors, medical schools must attract as teachers the brightest and most compassionate doctors in any country. A career in medicine is not for all; therefore, direct entrance of high school graduates into medical schools, based exclusively on their performances in few basic subjects, must be abandoned in all countries. Medical schools should utilize a combination of additional tools to select their students, including cognitive skills tests and semi-structured or multiple mini-interviews. The undergraduate medical curriculum must truly focus on primary care rather than on highly specialized tertiary hospital care. Valid clinical experiences of students on real patients must be guaranteed and increased; the traditional apprenticeship model (students learning through direct patient care under proper supervision of experienced clinicians) must be strongly pursued. Teaching methodologies based on Western theories cannot be applied in all countries, and local culture must be taken into account when deciding teaching methodologies and assessments. Cheating in assessments and corruption must be strongly fought. The lack of a sufficient number of doctors in primary care (even more so in rural areas) and in specialties which are considered less remunerative is an unsolved issue that needs strong attention and innovative approaches in all countries.

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