Medical students as family-health advocates: Arabian Gulf University experience

Abstract

Background: The Arabian Gulf University is a coeducational Islamic institution in the Kingdom of Bahrain sponsored by the Gulf Cooperative Council. The College of Medicine follows a problem-based curriculum in which science is integrated with professional skills and a community-health programme, comprising of maternal and child health, family studies, and population-health research. The family-studies programme requires all third-year students to complete a wide series of activities under familyphysician supervision. Aim: The aim of the study was to assess the performance of the programme with specific regard to students' family-health advocacy roles. Method: A trained community-health nurse administered a semistructured questionnaire based on family empowerment to 30 families. Themes included health-knowledge gains, positive changes in lifestyle and communication practices, and accessing community resources. Results: All families reported a gain in relevant health knowledge, and a number of families reported positive changes in lifestyle. Conclusions: Students proved to be valuable advocates for families in this programme. Their principal role lay in the uncovering of psychosocial distress, but they were able also to offer practical help in lifestyle behaviour changes, communication, and community-resource use.

Physical activity counseling in medical school education: a systematic review

“…The remaining three (30%) are reports from United Arab Emirates (34), Bahrain (37), and Thailand (41). All projects are based at a single institution.…”

“…All projects are based at a single institution. Three programs (30%) were added to the existing curriculum as separate courses or programs (36, 37, 39), while seven (70%) were incorporated into already established courses and/or internships (32–35, 41, 38, 40, 42). …”

“…Four programs (40%) occur during the first 2 years (34–36, 38); five (50%) are during the last 2 years of medical school (37, 39, 41, 40, 42); and one program (10%) is integrated into all 4 years of medical school (32, 33). There is also considerable heterogeneity in the length of the programs, which ranges from 2 hours (39) to 4 years (32, 33).…”

Caring for Underserved Patients Through Neighborhood Health Screening: Outcomes of a Longitudinal, Interprofessional, Student-Run Home Visit Program in Singapore

“…10 Other publications report community-based programs in Malaysia, 11 India, 12 and some of the Gulf states. 13,14 The reports seem to indicate that Asian SRC programs differ from their U.S. counterparts in four areas. First, Asian programs have a strong home visit component.…”

“…The third difference is that in Asia, faculty design and lead, with minimal or no student involvement, all of the programs, whereas in the United States students take on leadership and management roles. Finally, U.S. service learning programs and SRCs are able to provide a range of services for patients who have multiple diseases, whereas the Asian programs focus on specific areas (e.g., providing maternal and child health 12 or effecting lifestyle changes 13,14 ). Further, the majority of the reports on Asian programs we reviewed did not present data on students reflecting on their community experiences; hence, these community experiences might not fully qualify as service learning programs.…”