Plaudits for joint HMC - WCMC-Q professionalism course
June, 2015
The success of a collaborative project between Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar (WCMC-Q) and Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) to deliver professionalism training to physicians has been acknowledged with an award at the 2015 HMC Excellence in Medical Education Ceremony.
The Professionalism in Medicine Program consists of two elements, the first of which is a full-day course developed in 2012 by HMC and WCMC-Q faculty for trainees and to date has provided training for more than 850 participants. The second element is a three-hour workshop for physicians, which was launched in 2014 and has so far been attended by more than 900 consultants.
The curriculum is led by a team comprising WCMC-Q’s Dr. Amal Khidir, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, and HMC faculty with WCMC-Q appointments Dr. Khalid Alyafei, Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics; Dr. Ahmed Alhammadi, Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics; Dr. Magda Wagdy, Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics; and Dr. Abdel-Nasser Elzouki, Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine.
The course modules consist of interactive didactic small group discussions, tailor-made video clips and role-play exercises designed to demonstrate constructive feedback and improvement plans. Medical professionalism is a broad concept that relates to the way in which physicians interact with patients and fellow team members, which can include verbal and non-verbal communication, patient confidentiality issues and cultural sensitivity.
At the Excellence in Medical Education Ceremony, held at Qatar National Convention Centre in May, the faculty and staff involved in delivering the course were invited onto the stage to receive awards and certificates. The course previously won the HMC Stars of Excellence Award in 2013.
Dr. Khidir said: “We are extremely happy that the course and workshop have proven so successful and that so many faculty have been able to benefit from the training we have provided. This has been a truly collaborative effort that has drawn upon the expertise of both HMC and WCMC-Q faculty for the benefit of physicians and their patients.”
The ceremony also acknowledged the success of several other courses and the dedication of the faculty and staff who deliver them. Among these were courses in which WCMC-Q faculty and staff played a significant part together with their HMC colleagues.
For the Communication Skills Program, Dr. Elizabeth Alger, Associate Professor of Medicine, participated in its development during her tenure at WCMC-Q between 2005 and 2009, while Ms. Maha Elnashar, Director of the Center for Cultural Competence in Healthcare, and Ms. Huda Abdelrahim, Cultural Competence Associate Specialist, remain actively involved.
In the Research Methods Program Dr. Ziyad Mahfoud, Associate Professor of Healthcare Policy and Research is an active contributor, while in the Chief Residents Development Program Dr. Stephen Scott, Associate Professor of Family Medicine, played an active role.
All of the programs are part of HMC’s overarching Faculty Development Program, which was developed under the leadership of Dr. Abdul Latif Al Khal, Director of Medical Education at HMC and Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine at WCMC-Q, and Dr. Carma Bylund, Associate Director of Medical Education at HMC and Associate Professor of Communication Studies in Clinical Psychiatry at WCMC-Q.
Speaking shortly after the ceremony, Dr. Sheikh paid tribute to the faculty and staff for their efforts.
He said: “It is very gratifying to see just how successful and valuable these training programs have become and I am very pleased that those involved in their delivery have had their efforts acknowledged. It gives us great encouragement to see the talented faculty and staff of HMC and WCMC-Q working in harmony to deliver a standard of medical education and a level of patient care of which Qatar can be immensely proud.”
