Male and female emirati medical clerks’ perceptions of the impact of gender and mobility on their professional careers

Background: Medicine has undergone profound changes in terms of the number of women entering the profession with postulated implications of this ‘feminization’ for the profession. The present phenomenological study sought to gain insight into the experiences of final year male and female Emirati medical students (clerks) in terms of the impact of gender on their careers. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 24 of the 27 clerks. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed thematically. Findings: There was consensus that the gender profile of medicine in the United Arab Emirates was changing as opportunities emerged for Emirati women to branch into different medical specialties. These opportunities were, however, local or regional due largely to travel restrictions on women. Females would thus receive a less highly regarded board certification than males who were encouraged to specialize abroad. On their return, males would be appointed as consultants or as high-ranking administrators. Participants also acknowledged that like their roles in their society, some medical specialties were ‘gendered’, e.g., surgery (male) and pediatrics and obstetrics and gynecology (female). Conclusion: Although religious and cultural traditions around gender and mobility will influence the professional careers of male and female Emirati medical graduates, the situation is, however, changing

Perspectives of student performance in the Health Sciences: how do physiology and professional modules compare?

Physiology has an anecdotal track record of having lower pass rates than other professional modules in the Health Sciences. The aim of this study was to compare the performance and associated contributory factors of students in physiology modules with professional modules at the same level of study by way of overall pass rates and average, maximum, and minimum marks for the period 2008 – 2010 stratified by programme/qualification, matriculation/National Senior Certificate achievement and language, the latter two serving as proxies for alternative access and previously disadvantaged students, respectively. There was a notable difference in the mean 2008 - 2010 pass rates of students from the different professional qualifications and students generally performed considerably better in their professional modules as compared with their performance in the physiology modules. The performance in Physiology modules of English first language students was not significantly different from that of English second language students. The implications of these findings require further discourse on inter alia issues around physiology teaching, student learning modes, admission criteria, student preparedness for University and student monitoring and support mechanisms. There also needs to be a greater interaction between physiologists and health professionals involved in the curriculum design