Journal of Local and Global Health Science - Volume 2015, Issue 1

Background: Improving healthcare starts by providing the best education possible for medical students. In the Gulf region, a new movement known as “Arabization of Health Sciences” is at the root of many of the last educational reforms regarding the language in the teaching of sciences. Those reforms created a non-negligible gap among medical students in terms of scientific terminology. Research questions: This report aims to answer two questions:

[1]  What is the nature of the language barrier facing non-native English speaking students in their understanding of biological terminology? [2]  How can non-native English speaking students overcome this language barrier and what learning tools can be used to do that?

Method: Study participants were enrolled in a foundation and a premedical program at a U.S. medical university located in Qatar. A questionnaire was proposed to students asking for: 1- their need for translation of scientific terms, 2- the language of study of sciences in high school, 3- their shyness in asking the meaning of a scientific term, 4- the usefulness of a bilingual English-Arabic glossary with Latin/Greek origins of the terms. Results: Survey indicates that 72% of the students who went through the foundation year since 2012 did experience at least “sometimes” the need for translation of scientific terms into Arabic. This need for translation is related to the language used to study sciences in high schools. This study showed a decrease in 2014 for the proportion of students in the foundation year that studied sciences in English with 73% in 2013 to 39% in 2014. Also, 61% of students enrolled in the foundation program in 2014 refrained from asking questions about the meaning of a term because of shyness. Finally, foundation and Premed-1 students agreed respectively with 80% and 83% on the usefulness of having, for their premedical studies in biological sciences, a glossary with English-Arabic translations and Latin/Greek origins of terms, and 64% opted for having preferentially both an application and a booklet formats for the glossary. Conclusion: These results raise awareness regarding a “Double Language Barrier” (DLB) pattern for Arabic-speaking students. Indeed, medical and biological terminology, before being “scientific English” is derived from Latin and Greek, two languages that are taught neither in English-speaking schools nor in Arabic-speaking schools. To this end, the authors propose a practical tool for educational institutions in Qatar and in the Gulf region to foster innovative ways of teaching health sciences to Arabic-speaking students.

The burden of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) has notably been on the increase in many countries. This observed trend feeds into the growing problem of obesity and type 2 diabetes, especially in regions with higher background prevalence of diabetes such as the Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC). Despite the emerging body of evidence indicating adverse maternal and perinatal risks related to GDM, significant variations exist globally regarding the key components of GDM care, particularly, screening, diagnosis and long term follow up. This article appraises these key aspects of GDM across the GCC region against the backdrop of new global insights into the diagnosis and management of GDM. The options for minimising variations in screening and diagnosis and new opportunities for streamlining care across the Gulf region are explored. This proposition has the potential for driving an enabling environment for sharing best practices as well as engaging in collaborative research across the GCC.

IPE: Interprofessional Healthcare Education (IPE) competencies provide the criteria against which to measure the capacity and capability of fully collaborative healthcare teams to learn and work together. Significant work already exists in the determination of IPE competencies across all disciplines. Although there is still a lack of agreement on a single set of shared core competencies, successive competency iterations enhance its development. IPE competencies need to take into account local and cultural contexts as recommended by WHO, (2010). Here we present a collaborative process that builds on existing competency development, assessing additional academic IPE needs. Core competencies: After the development of a set of shared core IPE competencies a two-day workshop was delivered to healthcare students from four professions. The results and feedback from students showed the value of the competencies. We discuss the evolving process through two major stages: (1) development of a model determining four shared core IPE domains, (2) the development and delivery of a set of IPE workshops explicitly and intentionally based on the model. This process is an example for the future development of IPE and IPP in any local setting. Results: Testing the developed IPE in specific workshops revealed that most clinical scenarios were on a similar standard but also showed a deficit in collaborative patient centered care, an aspect suggestive of deficient interprofessional contact and prioritization.

The ability to thermoregulate is a key component in allowing humans to live and work in a variety of torrid environments. A key thermoregulatory component is the role the skin plays in dissipating heat, through vasodilation of skin blood vessels and its critical role in the secretion of sweat. The role of sweating has for a long time been regarded primarily as the main function of the human eccrine sweat gland, although it has been known for a considerable length of time that sweat, produced in response to heat and exercise, was more than just a salt solution and contained a variety of other substances in addition to electrolytes. Recent studies have shown that there is more to the human eccrine gland, such as manufacturing and releasing compounds that contribute to the defensive barrier of the skin, as well as stem cells present in the gland, having a role to play re-epithelialization of the skin in response to wound healing. Disorders of sweat glands and the resultant conditions, most often relate to defects in the secretion of sweat and its release on to the skin surface. This review concentrates on the processes that enable the production of human sweat.