introduction

AIIMS is responsible for developing patterns of teaching in undergraduate and postgraduate medical education in all its branches so as to demonstrate a high standard of medical education to all medical colleges and other health professional institutions in India. Although the Institute has brought about significant changes in its curricula, the overall standard of Medical Education at a national level has remained rather static since 1947. By and large teachers in most of medical colleges of India had remained uninfluenced by the modern educational theories and advanced in educational technology. In fact it was being increasingly felt by our health planners that an urgent, competent and comprehensive action was needed to make medical education to more relevant our national needs. For quite some time AIIMS had been exploring the possibility of establishing an inter-institutional link with the Centre for Medical Education at the University of Dundee in United Kingdom. A proposal was mooted in 1977 for the establishment of a Centre for Medical Education and Technology at AIIMS. However it was in 1989 that the Government of India accorded formal approval to the tripartite agreement between AIIMS, Overseas Development Agencies (ODA), United Kingdom and Govt. of New Zealand to set up a Centre with a view to elevate the standards of Medical and Health Personnel Education by improving the methods of teaching learning and rationalizing the educational strategy. The Centre has been named after Prof. K.L. Wig, the second Director of AIIMS, and a doyen of Medical Education.
Following a tripartite agreement between AIIMS, Governments of UK and New Zealand, a Faculty Development Program was organized for a core group of faculty and technical staff at the Dundee Institute of Educational Technology, United Kingdom. The equipments required for setting up a fully fledged media production centre were provided by the Government of New Zealand. The centre was formally inaugurated by Hon’ble Shri K.R. Narayanan, the- then Vice- President of India, in 1993.
Keeping in mind the overall vision of AIIMS, the future vision of CMET is to develop as a Centre of Excellence in Medical and Health Professional education in the country and the South Asian Region in response to the emerging needs in this field.
Within the institute CMET is focussing on capacity building of all categories of staff by engaging in training through in-house workshops and other activities.

Objectives:
• Promote faculty development and develop skills in curricular planning.
• Rationalize the use of educational technology for designing effective teaching.
• Influence institutional policies for improved educational planning.
• Undertake research in medical education.
• Act as an advanced centre for designing formal instructional courses for certification.
• Develop database and information retrieval services on various aspects of medial education.
• Undertake production of learning resource materials for the training of medical and other health care personnel.