The MEDINE2 Thematic Network in Medical Education in Europe will build on the work of the MEDINE Network 2004-2007. The Networks is requiered because the education and training of medical doctors to high standard is critical to the physical health, well-being, productivity and social cohesion of European society. Variours issues must be addressed. Despite facilitative legislation, mobility of medical students and practitioners within Europe es limited, despite increasing mobility of citizens. Standars and content of medical education programes are inconsistent, and the transparency and comparability of qualifications are limited. This adversely affects equity of access to quality health-care. Application of the Bologna principles to medical education is patchy and variable, leading to further divergence of practice.There is an urgent need to medernise and harmonise medical education and training across Europe in reponse to rapidily changing societal needs. This relies on educating lerning providers about cotemporary developments, and enhanced cooperation between institutions. Medical research is essential for European competititveness, sustainable economic growth, creativity and innovation, and cooperation between institutions and entreprise/industry. Educational aspects of medical research must be addressed in terms of quality, effectiveness, accessibility, openness en coherence. Advances in ICT have implications for health-care delivery and education/training. The Network will incorporate this and promote innovative use of ICT.In addition to the overarching collaborative nature of the Network, specific work will be undertaken.In relation to mobility, new products and services will be developed to address the problem of poor competence in medical language as a barrier to free movement of students and doctors. A toolkit will be developed to facilitate use of the ECTS credit transfer system in medicine. This will be promoted by a range of activities, including pilot site visits,As regards comparability of qualifications, the succesful work of the Tuning task force of MEDINE will be extended. Tuning methodology will be used to generate learning outcomes/competences for 1st cycle medical degrees. Application of the Tuning outcomes to medical degrees in Europe will be promoted through a "toolkit" approach, measures to promote self-evaluation by medical schools, and pilot site visits.The Network will investigate and promote modern curriculum trends in medicine, throough workshops across Europe, with proceedings disseminated on-line. We will investigate and promote the Bologna Process as vehicule for educational enhacement in medical education. Obstacles will be evaluated, solutions and exemples of the best practice will be identified and disseminated.The network will seek to create a new community of practice for those carrying out research on medical education, via the website and a themed conference. Relationships between education of medical doctors and medical/biomedical research will be investigated. Tuning methods will be used to generte learning outcomes/competences for 3rd cycle medical degrees. The outputs of the Network will be disseminated via MEDINE2 website. As well as a rich store of useful information, resources, and communication tools, it will link to other key sites such as the AMEE website (www.amee.org), the AMEE journal Medical Teacher, MedEdCentral (www.mededcentral.org) and MedEdWorld (www.mededworld.org).We anticipate that the work of the Network will have a significant impact on the consistency, transparency, quality, and overall santing of medical education in Europe. This will enhace the confidence of employers, patients and society in the doctors who serve them; enhace the safety health and productivity of patients across Europe; lead a more satisfied medical workforce; and promote equality of access to good medical care.