Practical Islamic input in Orthopaedics Undergraduate Medical Curricula

The International Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM) was founded in 1983 upon a renewed awareness of the perennial values of the teachings in the Al-Quran and Sunnah and is dedicated to the reorientation of the ummah and mankind towards this end. The first Mission Statement of IIUM stated that it would ‘…undertake the special and greatly needed task of reforming the contemporary Muslim mentality and integrating Islamic Revealed Knowledge and the Human Sciences in a positive manner’. When it was first founded, IIUM had faculties only in the Human and Social Sciences. In 1995, the Kulliyyah of Medicine (Kulliyyah al-Tabb) was established and the fist batch of 69 medical undergraduates started their medical education in 1997. Previously, fresh medical graduates have been accused of being very uncaring towards their patients when they start working in the hospitals. In a country with a large Muslim population like Malaysia there are certain aspects of medical practice that may make both the patient and the medical practitioner uncomfortable, such as how to perform solah while the patients are incapacitated. As the doctor is responsible for patients while they are hospitalised, there is a responsibility under syariah law for the doctor to ensure that the patients do not forgo their obligations as Muslims. The fact that the patient is under the doctor’s care does not absolve the doctor of this responsibility and, in fact, further strengthens the need for something to be done. The heavy medical curriculum has been blamed in the past as a major factor that medical students become more ‘disease-orientated’ rather than ‘patient-orientated’. In a non-English speaking country like Malaysia, the burden on the medical students to perform is much bigger due to the language barrier as most teaching medium available are in English. Thus, the medical students’ time will be further taken up by their efforts to study and do well in their exams at the end of their posting or semester. They spend more time in trying to read and memorise as much as possible rather than understanding the problem. In the Western world this phenomena is a well known fact, leading to the advent of ‘Problem Based Learning’ (PBL) in trying to overcome this shortcomings in the medical student. Furthermore, the secularisation of all fields of knowledge has lead towards the medical curriculum largely devoid of any religious or spiritual considerations. Although undergraduate students have had formal teaching about the basics of the Islamic fiqh and tawhid during their school-going years, they are very much unprepared to apply the knowledge that they acquired towards the pathological conditions that they will see in the clinical setting. Therefore, there is a great need to re-educate the medical undergraduates on how to be more critical of the information that they acquire in medical school and how to better apply the knowledge gained, especially from the various aspects of the Islamic perspective. In the Kulliyyah of Medicine in IIUM the teaching of medicine in a holistic manner is being achieved by having a series of relevant Islamic Revealed Knowledge lectures for the students every week throughout their five year course. To our knowledge IIUM is the first university in the world to incorporate Islamic Input courses into the medical curriculum. The Department of Orthopaedics, Traumatology & Rehabilitation has gone further by introducing a practical session on the relevant aspects of the Islamic Input in Orthopaedics (Triple IO) practice since 2002

The impact of the teaching of ethics in a medical and allied health sciences curriculum in International Islamic University Malaysia

Background: The approach to the teaching of ethics and professionalism in the Faculty of Medicine (FM) of International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) is unique. A specifically designed package is incorporated designated as the Islamic Input into the Medical Programme (IIMP). The IIMP spans over the entire 5 years of the medical programme. In the Faculty of Allied Health Sciences (FAHS) students do not go through a similar Islamic Input module but exposed to ethical issues specific to health sciences. Method: The aim of this study is to assess the impact of the teaching of ethics through the IIMP. A cross-sectional study was conducted in medical and allied health sciences faculties of IIUM. In total 259 students volunteered and were allocated to 4 groups, Years 2 and 5 students of FM and Years 2 and 4 of FAHS. A set of questionnaire consisting of 20 vignettes related to medical ethics was distributed to all students. An independent t-test was used to compare the mean total scores between the groups. Results: A significant difference (p < 0.05) was seen between the mean total scores for the Year 2 and Year 5 students of FM; Year 2 students of FM and Year 2 students of FAHS; and between the Year 5 students of FM and Year 4 students of FAHS. Also there was significant difference between the two medical and allied health sciences groups as a whole. Discussion: This study suggests that the IIMP of the IIUM has a positive impact on the medical students when dealing with ethical issues. The Year 5 medical students were expected to have obtained a higher mean total score. The probable reason for the lower mean total score include the teaching-learning approach utilized which is mainly lecture with minimal small group approach. Also the allocation of marks for medical ethics in summative assessment in the IIUM medical curriculum is minimal compared to the core medical subjects which would have some influence on the weight given by students. Conclusion: The Medical Faculty of IIUM believes that the approach to the teaching of medical ethics by incorporating the Islamic Input module is effective, practical and relevant. However the teaching-learning method and the assessment will have to be re-addressed to achieve greater impact