APRIL 9 - APRIL 10, 2022


Medical Humanities in the Middle East Online

Abdulsalam Sultan

Abdulsalam Sultan

ABSTRACT

 

Challenges facing introduction of communication skills into medical education in Iraq

Abdulsalam Sultan

AlKindy Medical College

Sawsan Issa Habeeb

Basrah medical college

 

Introduction: Communication skills “CS” has no clear curriculum in most Iraqi medical colleges. This shortcoming of education is reflected on doctor centered approach.
Aim: to identify challenges facing introduction of CS into medical education.
Methods: Feedback form including the main challenges on introducing CS was distributed online for healthcare professionals who had been participated in training of CS courses.
Results: Ninety-three healthcare professionals were responded; 55 were males and 38 were females, faculty members were 46 & practitioners with part time teaching were 47. Doctors constitutes 92 % of the responders from different disciplines and 75.2% had more than 15 years’ experience in practice. Frequency of educational and practical challenges were 40% and 44% respectively. Lack of appropriate curriculum constitutes 42% of educational challenges. Challenges related to doctors' training on western model which is difficult to transform interview into a dialogue that harmonizes Iraqi culture and social barriers in frequency of 16%. While biomedical approach and lack of resources represent 22%, 21% of challenges respectively and 14% of the participants mentioned high proportion of students to faculty members. Challenges related to practice includes doctors centered approach and neglection of patients' psychosocial aspects in frequency of 47% and 30% respectively.
Factors related to patients revealed that 46% of challenges related to health literacy and 26% to patient’s behavior for seeking medical advice as well as the presence of more than one person at interview was the most difficult factor for successful interview in 14%, in addition to passive role of patient during interview in 13 %. 

 

BIO

o D.O.B. 7/1/56.  Married from a pediatrician colleague. Three sons; first newly graduated doctor died by road traffic accident on 2013, the second dentist & the third oil engineer, with two grandchildren, lives all his life in Baghdad. 
o Internist DM and Social Anthropologist (BA).
o Sultan introduced the concepts and techniques of doctor-patient communication  and experiential learning into Iraqi medical teaching environment through his writing, teaching and tireless advocacy to healthcare professionals throughout Iraq " Hundreds of courses, workshops and  Webinars" and producing for the first time dozens of video recording interviews with simulated and real patients and analyzing them with a new technique (Agenda Led Outcome Based Analysis, ALOBA) in his training the trainers courses and workshops since 2001till now.
o Member of Advisory committee and national representative of International Association for Communication in Healthcare 2021.
o Communication skills Lecturer at Al-Kindy Medical college for under and postgraduate studies 2020-2021.
o CS Courses Manager at Iraqi Medical Association for newly graduates doctors 2018- till now “as an obligatory course for membership”.    
o Introduction of CS teaching, curriculum building, monitoring and Expert for Iraqi Medical colleges " Basrah, Kufa, Hawler" since 2016-with annual refreshing courses.

There is no significance statistical difference of challenges in relation to specialty, workplace, sex and years of practice.
Conclusion: Multiple levels of challenges facing introduction of CS into medical education which needs systematic review in educational curricula and practice of medicine.