Background: One of the basic policy questions to be decided at the inception of medical education institutes is the language of instruction. Aims: This study explored the perspectives of medical faculty and students at a college in Saudi Arabia on the language of instruction in medical education. Methods: A cross-sectional survey of undergraduate medical students and full-time faculty members at a medical college in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, was conducted in 2016. Each participant completed a self-administered, validated 28-item questionnaire. Results: The total number of students and faculty who responded were 468 (76%) and 37 (93%) respectively. Most students and faculty members agreed that studying in English enables a better access to medical information (n=457, 91%) and more job opportunities (n=419, 83%). Less than 15% of the students preferred to be taught in Arabic in most of the curriculum aspects except for communication skills (n=131, 28%) and the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) (n=119, 26%). Conclusions: Most medical students and faculty members preferred English as the language of instruction for medical education and did not believe that teaching medicine in Arabic should be sought as a future goal.

The main language of instruction for teaching medicine in most of the Arabic-speaking countries is English then French to a lesser extent. To our knowledge, Syria is the only Arab country that uses Arabic as the language of instruction in its medical colleges. This study explored the perspectives of decision-makers on the choice of English language for medical instruction in Saudi Arabia, in addition to, the academic, economic and social impact of this choice. This paper also explores their awareness of the languages used currently and in the past for teaching medicine and what obstacles are expected if Arabic language is adopted as the language of instruction in medicine. This was a qualitative study that purposively interviewed eight decision-makers at the university, regulatory, and ministerial levels on the choice of English language for medical instruction in Saudi Arabia. The semi-structured interviews were developed and conducted by the investigators. Each interview was audio taped and transcribed verbatim. Key themes were identified by the research team, with each theme representing an idea or a position. All decision-makers expressed a positive attitude towards the choice of English for medical instruction, but there was also an overall support for a future Arabic curriculum, once obstacles are overcome. The availability of medical resources was the main factor which decision-makers agreed upon for the choice of language. There was also a consensus on the need to introduce Arabic in teaching communication skills. There is an overwhelming preference of choice for the English language over Arabic language for medical instruction. The adaptation of Arabic language was seen to have major obstacles but could be overcome through a given nationwide initiative. It is recommended to have future studies in assessing periodic changes in the perspective of choice of language in medicine.

Medical EducationVolume 52, Issue 11 p. 1194-1195 Really Good Stuff: Lessons learned through innovation in medical education Incorporating community-based education to develop socially responsible Sudanese dentists Nazik M Nurelhuda, Corresponding Author Nazik M Nurelhuda n.nurelhuda@gmail.com orcid.org/0000-0003-4580-1744 Correspondence: Nazik M Nurelhuda, Dental Public Health, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Khartoum, Army Road, Khartoum 102, Sudan. E-mail: n.nurelhuda@gmail.comSearch for more papers by this authorPage Morahan, Page MorahanSearch for more papers by this authorBashir Hamad, Bashir HamadSearch for more papers by this authorMuhammad Tariq, Muhammad TariqSearch for more papers by this author Nazik M Nurelhuda, Corresponding Author Nazik M Nurelhuda n.nurelhuda@gmail.com orcid.org/0000-0003-4580-1744 Correspondence: Nazik M Nurelhuda, Dental Public Health, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Khartoum, Army Road, Khartoum 102, Sudan. E-mail: n.nurelhuda@gmail.comSearch for more papers by this authorPage Morahan, Page MorahanSearch for more papers by this authorBashir Hamad, Bashir HamadSearch for more papers by this authorMuhammad Tariq, Muhammad TariqSearch for more papers by this author First published: 26 September 2018 https://doi.org/10.1111/medu.13711Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume52, Issue11November 2018Pages 1194-1195 This article also appears in:Remembering the ‘ME’ in BAME RelatedInformation

Background: Obesity and overweight are associated with signii cant health and health-related conditions, which have a negative impact on the quality of life. Objectives: To determine the proportion and characteristics of obesity among adults visiting a major family practice center in central Saudi Arabia and to compare the demographic and health-related conditions among obese and nonobese adults. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study conducted in a major family practice center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Patients attending the center between 1st September and 30th November 30, 2013 were interviewed using a data collection form developed to meet the objectives of the study. Logistic regression was used to generate the odds ratios and their 95% coni dence intervals for the association of body mass index and risks factors. Results: A total number of 300 adult participants were included in this study. The mean age and standard deviation were 46 years (±17 years). The proportion of overweight and obesity in the total sample was 32% and 50% respectively. Frequency of obesity was found to increase with age till the age of 50 where it drops afterward. Obesity signii cantly af ects the participants within the age group from 40 to 60 more than other age groups (P < 0.001). Obesity was signii cantly associated with female gender and marital status (P < 0.018 and 0.006, respectively). The presence of obesity was found to decline signii cantly with increasing level of education. The presence of obesity was more in patients who have other chronic medical problems and those who reported less exercise. In addition to nonsmoking status, stepwise multiple logistic regressions showed that low level of education and having chronic medical diseases especially hypertension could be considered as predictors of developing obesity. Conclusion: This study coni rmed previously published data about the seriousness of overweight and obesity among adults in Saudi Arabia. Certain patient categories are at a higher risk as women, married, and less educated patients. The positive role of education was clearly demonstrated and highlights the important role in ef ective health education strategies to minimize the negative public impact of obesity and overweight.

Background Medical education in Saudi Arabia is facing multiple challenges, including the rapid increase in the number of medical schools over a short period of time, the influx of foreign medical graduates to work in Saudi Arabia, the award of scholarships to hundreds of students to study medicine in various countries, and the absence of published national guidelines for minimal acceptable competencies of a medical graduate. Discussion We are arguing for the need for a Saudi national medical licensing examination that consists of two parts: Part I (Written) which tests the basic science and clinical knowledge and Part II (Objective Structured Clinical Examination) which tests the clinical skills and attitudes. We propose this examination to be mandated as a licensure requirement for practicing medicine in Saudi Arabia. Conclusion The driving and hindering forces as well as the strengths and weaknesses of implementing the licensing examination are discussed in details in this debate.

OBJECTIVES:To describe briefly the process of early planning and establishment of community-based medical schools with highlights of the key issues and milestones. DESIGN:After outlining some basic concerns and provisos for the Dean and suggested strategies for setting the stage (preparing the ground) for the innovation, three phases of early planning and action steps within each are listed to serve as a guide and a general checklist. SETTING:University of Gezira, Sudan and UAE University, AL-Ain. CONCLUSION:As the curriculum with its implications constitutes the driving force for establishing the schools, it has been given due emphasis and greater share in planning. The communication is concluded with further advice to founding Deans through the proposition of a five-star Dean.

The pressing need for this communication has emerged from the author's experience in conducting educational workshops, seminars and meetings for the orientation of health professionals in community-oriented medical education. Many questions are raised and many statements made which clearly indicate that the term 'community-oriented medical education' (COME) is still misunderstood. It carries a different meaning for different people. Many give it their own meaning and attach to it their own interpretations. This has resulted in wide propagation of the wrong concepts to the detriment of promoting the approach. (It is worth noting that 'community medicine' has over the years suffered the same fate. Is it because both terms include the word 'community', which often has a poor image for much of the medical profession?) An attempt is made here to clarify the situation by a process of questions and answers, the questions being those frequently asked as such or posed in the form of statements. They are by no means exhaustive. Seven major such questions are addressed with reference to personal experience and the literature. (1) What do we mean by COME, community-based education (CBE) and community-based learning (CBL)? (2) COME is third-grade medical education producing third-grade graduates and 'barefoot doctors'. (3) COME produces community health doctors/specialists. (4) COME is not scientifically based (based only on soft sciences) and basic sciences are neglected. (5) Graduates from COME programmes are not competent in dealing with patients as they spend most of their time in the community. (6) If it is community-oriented education, then what about the hospital?(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

The community-based course presented is a longitudinal course running through four semesters in the Faculty of Medicine, University of Gezira, Sudan. Students combine their regular work in primary health care centres with attachments to a number of families in Wad Medani town. They continue to visit these families regularly throughout their entire medical course with the aim of studying them and helping them with some of their medical and psychosocial problems.

This communication expands on the educational methods presently in action in the Gezira Medical School, Sudan with the aim of posing an approach to problem-based teaching and learning within the context of the limited resources of a developing country. Community-oriented education had been described elsewhere (Hamad, 1981, 1982). The focus in the present paper is mainly on problem-based learning (PBL). After a short review, definition of terms and an outline of the educational method of PBL, a brief description of the methods as applied in Gezira is given, in addition to a description of how the courses are designed and in what form (course design and format). The evaluation system is then outlined.

The programme outlined is an interdisciplinary activity involving students working as groups in villages. It runs through the educational programme in summer blocks of 6 weeks each. It blends medical education with rural development and it is hoped to develop in students team-work and community orientation as well as research skills. The purpose of the communication is to exchange ideas in this field and hopefully receive some comments and views from readers and at the same time pave the way for support, financial or otherwise.