We then approached our colleagues in the Asian Medical Students’ Association (AMSA) – the largest medical student community in Asia (14). This insider's information was quite reliable but might be incomplete. Our third source of data was the Chula-ASEAN Medical Schools Initiative (CU-AMSI) – a collaboration between Chulalongkorn University, Thailand; University of Health Sciences of Cambodia; University of Health Sciences, Laos PDR; University of Medicine 1, Yangon, Myanmar; University of Medicine 2, Yangon, Myanmar; University of Pharmacy, Yangon Myanmar to strengthen the countries’ capacity in medical education and research. Medical students from these countries were informally interviewed to assess their knowledge about MLEs. Some essential information missed by the above approaches was retrieved from other Internet sources as appropriate. Feasibility and concerns about validity and reliability of the data from these secondary sources were discussed among the investigators. The initial synthesis of information was sent to experts in the region, who were invited through HealthSpace.Asia connections. They were asked to validate the findings specific to their countries and then to provide some corrections with supporting evidence.