Radical reform of the undergraduate medical education program in a developing country: the Egyptian experience (original) (raw)
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Medical Education in Egypt: Historical Background, Current Status, and Challenges
Medical Education In Egypt, 2017
Background: From its beginnings in 1827, an important goal of medical education in Egypt has been to qualify physicians who can provide high-quality health care services for their local community and other communities in the Middle East region. Objective and method: To describe the historical background, current status, and future challenges of medical education in Egypt, the authors conducted an extensive internet search, and made electronic communications as well as site visits to gather relevant data. In the final phase, the authors organized and interpreted their data with emphasis on the historical background, features of the curricula, practices of quality, and accreditation, as well as the challenges encountered. The authors collected data from 27 medical schools, all of which are supervised by Egypt's Supreme Council of Universities. Results: The findings showed that the undergraduate programs (UGMEs) of medical schools in Egypt can be broken down into three categories reflecting the status of reform: innovative, traditional, or in transition. Areas of reform have included the main features of curriculum, teaching and learning methods, and assessment tools. Postgraduate studies in medicine (PGSM) in Egypt take place under two systems: the academic system, offered by universities, and the professional Fellowship of Egyptian Board (FEB) program, offered by the Ministry of Health. There are many initiatives to establish a national regulatory system for continuing medical education, but none of these initiatives is yet well established.
Reform Strategies of Medical Education in Egypt
Fayoum University Medical journal, 2018
The purpose of this paper is to explore the challenges facing medical education system in Egypt particularly in the area of education quality. It builds upon several existing studies conducted in Egypt to make the case for improving education outcomes. Design/methodology/approach-Samples were drawn from existing studies conducted in Egypt by experts in the education field. Findings-Results suggest that there is a chance for improvement of the quality of medical education in Egypt with subsequent potential increase of graduates employability and direct impact on national and global healthcare. Conclusion-Strategies of reform are suggested.
Research Square (Research Square), 2023
Background: Egypt's undergraduate medical students have been following a standard curriculum known as the 6+1 curriculum or the traditional curriculum for many years. However, ve years ago, Egyptian universities adopted a new competency-based and integrated curriculum. The competency-based curriculum aims to develop professional competent physiciansequipped with knowledge and skills. Aim: This study aimed to compare the academic performance of Menou a medical students during the preclinical phase in both traditional and competency-based curricula. Methods: A retrospectivecohort study was conducted on two consecutive batches of medical students at Menou a University. The rst batch (411 students) followed the traditional curriculum, and the second batch (675 students) followed the competency-based curriculum. Results: Students in the traditional curriculum achieved signi cantly greater GPA (p=0.010) and overall percentage (p=0.018) scores than didstudents in the competency-based curriculum. Conclusions: The pooreracademic performance of students in the competency-based integrated curriculum compared to that in the traditional curriculum may be attributed to factors such as frequent examinations, limited time available for modules, and the fact that they were the rst batch to experience this new system.
2018: Preparing Tomorrow's Doctors: A Call for Reform of Iraqi Medical Curricula (Arabic and English
Book, 2018
Preparing Tomorrow's Doctors: A Call for Reform of Iraqi Medical Curricula (Arabic and English). (308 pages). Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, USA. Book dimensions: 17 x 1.8 x 24.4 cm Year 2018 Authors: Ghanim Alsheikh, Omar Mustafa, Ahmed Alkafajei, Talib J. Kadhim “Preparing Tomorrow’s Doctors: A Call for Reform of Iraqi Medical Curricula” book is written in Arabic and includes a 72-pages abridged part written in English. Although addressing the reform in Iraq, the book is useful for any country looking for reform of the curricula of medical schools operating there. The book briefly reviews the history of medical schools in Iraq since the establishment of the first faculty of modern medicine in Baghdad in 1927 with the adoption of a curriculum which kept being copied by the colleges established after that. These started with the second college, which opened in Mosul in 1959 and then by the third in Basra in 1967. The total number of operating medical colleges in Iraq as of 2018 is twenty-nine colleges (with other 2 in preparation). The book reviews the evolution of medical education curricula in the western world, particularly in North America where most of the educational research and innovation is conducted and applied. The methods that the colleges in Iraq are currently applying are then reviewed and analysed. Internationally approved benchmarks and comparison tools are used in the book to examine the adopted teaching methods used, the quality and effectiveness of the educational strategies, and the methods of training and assessing the required student abilities and competencies required for graduation. The book aims, in particular, to show which methods provide sufficient opportunities for student to obtain the required competencies needed with emphasis on applied, clinical and behavioural skills. Also, it focuses on opportunities for the student to practice ways to create a spirit of inquiry, in-depth thinking and the ability to pursue lifelong learning. The book provides decision-makers and teaching staff with a simple but adequate guide on how to develop and adopt the steps described in the book in analysing the current methods of teaching and learning using the tools mentioned therein. Two sets of graduate outcomes are presented here for the Iraqi colleges to adapt. The book presents a practical way of analysis of the outcomes (Task Analysis) into knowledge, skills and attitudes to reach the right content for their curriculum. In addition, tools for analysing Iraqi standards of accreditation to reach and formulate the required educational strategies of curriculum, are also presented. The process of selecting and applying the best approach to reform a curriculum is certainly the responsibility of all departments in the medical college. The student who has been accepted to study at the medical college this year 2017-2018, will probably contribute to the health services until 2070, when s/he will be 70 years of age. Let us imagine that the foundations adopted by the college today and the methodology used to educate and equip this student with the knowledge, skills and professional actions that suits such long service. What sort of education such a student needs to empower her/him to face all the changes that will take place for the next 50 years? Would this education feed this student with a fish whenever feeling hungry or provide opportunities to practice how to fish to feed own hunger?
J Adv Med Educ Prof., 2017
Introduction: Doctors' shortage has remained a concern worldwide. The developed countries started aids to recruit international medical graduates (IMG) to cope with the defects that the health care system suffers from; however, this solution may not work in developing countries that have a limited resource and poor budget to spend on the health care system. This study aims to present an alternative way to approach the physicians' shortage by accelerating undergraduate medical education and reform some postgraduate courses in order to cope with this problem. Methods: The literature in PubMed/Medline and Google scholar were searched using such keywords as undergraduate medical education, physician shortage, health care reform, physicians' performance, medical curriculum. Results: The inding revealed that performance during undergraduate medical school does not have a relationship with the physician's performance post-graduation. Moreover, the overloaded curriculum and the years spent in undergraduate education have a negative impact on the students in terms of burn out, lack of competency, and loss of motivation in medicine. The method of education was found to have a positive effect on preparing good students and ultimately good physicians. Conclusion: Since performance in undergraduate years does not have an impact on the practice post-graduation, the developing countries may consider the option of changing the context, and abbreviating undergraduate medical education as a solution for physicians' shortage dilemma. Moreover, modifying some postgraduate majors such as family physician, and general practitioner to allow the physicians enter the practice in areas of need is recommended.
Competency-based medical education in two Sub-Saharan African medical schools
Advances in Medical Education and Practice, 2014
Background: Relatively little has been written on Medical Education in Sub-Saharan Africa, although there are over 170 medical schools in the region. A number of initiatives have been started to support medical education in the region to improve quality and quantity of medical graduates. These initiatives have led to curricular changes in the region, one of which is the introduction of Competency-Based Medical Education (CBME). Institutional reviews: This paper presents two medical schools, Makerere University College of Health Sciences and College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, which successfully implemented CBME. The processes of curriculum revision are described and common themes are highlighted. Both schools used similar processes in developing their CBME curricula, with early and significant stakeholder involvement. Competencies were determined taking into consideration each country's health and education systems. Final competency domains were similar between the two schools. Both schools established medical education departments to support their new curricula. New teaching methodologies and assessment methods were needed to support CBME, requiring investments in faculty training. Both schools received external funding to support CBME development and implementation. Conclusion: CBME has emerged as an important change in medical education in Sub-Saharan Africa with schools adopting it as an approach to transformative medical education. Makerere University and the University of Ibadan have successfully adopted CBME and show that CBME can be implemented even for the low-resourced countries in Africa, supported by external investments to address the human resources gap.
Medical teacher, 2018
In this paper, we present the major curricular reform in MD program of Tehran University of Medical Sciences, the oldest and the largest medical university in Iran, initiated about a decade ago. Following a comprehensive program evaluation, many of the basic challenges of the traditional curriculum were revealed, namely, lack of pre-defined competencies for graduates, over-reliance on teacher-centered teaching methods, over-emphasis on knowledge base in student assessments, and focusing solely on biomedical aspects of patient care. In 2010, a vision statement for reform was created and approved by the University Council. The new curriculum was launched in 2011. The changes included: revising the content of the courses, assimilating horizontal and vertical integration, emphasizing clinical skills, encouraging active involvement in patient management, providing more opportunity for supervised practice, integrating behavioral and psychosocial topics into the curriculum, incorporating i...
Introduction: Doctors' shortage has remained a concern worldwide. The developed countries started aids to recruit international medical graduates (IMG) to cope with the defects that the health care system suffers from; however, this solution may not work in developing countries that have a limited resource and poor budget to spend on the health care system. This study aims to present an alternative way to approach the physicians' shortage by accelerating undergraduate medical education and reform some post-graduate courses in order to cope with this problem. Methods: The literature in PubMed/Medline and Google scholar were searched using such keywords as undergraduate medical education, physician shortage, health care reform, physicians' performance, medical curriculum. Results: The finding revealed that performance during undergraduate medical school does not have a relationship with the physician's performance post-graduation. Moreover, the overloaded curriculum and the years spent in undergraduate education have a negative impact on the students in terms of burn out, lack of competency, and loss of motivation in medicine. The method of education was found to have a positive effect on preparing good students and ultimately good physicians. Conclusion: Since performance in undergraduate years does not have an impact on the practice post-graduation, the developing countries may consider the option of changing the context, and abbreviating undergraduate medical education as a solution for physicians' shortage dilemma. Moreover, modifying some postgraduate majors such as family physician, and general practitioner to allow the physicians enter the practice in areas of need is recommended.
Medical Education in Iran: An Exploration of Some Curriculum Issues
Medical Education Online, 2006
Background: Although Iran is a large and populous country, the state of medical education is poorly understood and under researched. However, it is apparent that, in recent years, calls for reform in medical education have not tended to lead to major changes. As a result, the curricula used are in danger of being perceived as dated and less effective than they should be. Purpose: This exploratory study is designed to investigate the perspectives and experiences of a group of the most influential medical education course planners in Iran. Its aim is to investigate their views about the nature of the undergraduate medical curriculum in Iran and explore with them ways in which such curricula could be modernized and improved. Methods: In-depth, semi-structured interviews were used to explore the perceptions of an elite group of medical education course planners who all work in prestigious universities in Tehran. Each of these 10 individuals was interviewed twice, over a period of several months, in order that an in-depth view of their perceptions could be unraveled.