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Commitment towards a better future for medical education in Saudi Arabia: the efforts of the college of medicine at Qassim University to become socially accountable

Commitment towards a better future for medical education in Saudi Arabia: the efforts of the college of medicine at Qassim University to become socially accountable

  • January 4, 2020
  • Alrebish, S. A., Taha, M. H., Ahmed, M. H., & Abdalla, M. E.

The College of Medicine at Qassim University (COMQU), established in 2001 with a community-oriented, problem-based approach, aims to strengthen Saudi Arabia’s health system. This study assessed COMQU’s social accountability using the WHO framework across education, service, and research. Document analysis and interviews revealed strong alignment, particularly in education. While COMQU demonstrates a commitment to social accountability, further efforts—especially in research and service—are needed to fully achieve this goal.

  • Source: Medical Education Online

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Coleen De Villa worked with the Development Academy of the Philippines, WHO, and the Department of Health, excelling in project coordination, research management, and training facilitation.

Dr. Sarah Larkins

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Dr Sarah Larkins is an experienced research leader, general practitioner and Dean, College of Medicine and Dentistry, James Cook University, comprising disciplines of Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy, Public Health and Tropical Medicine and Biomedicine and Molecular Cell Biology.  As a clinician researcher, Sarah has particular skills and experience in health systems and workforce research and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health research and is a recognised expert in social accountability in health professional education. Sarah is also Co-Director of the Anton Breinl Research Centre for Health Systems Strengthening. Sarah has over 180 published peer-reviewed journal articles and several book chapters, with an h-index of 37, more than 4500 citations and well over $98m in grant funding.  She currently supervises 10 HDR students with 20 PhD completions.
Sarah’s particular focus is on collaborating to improve equity in health care services for underserved populations, particularly rural, remote, Indigenous and tropical populations, and on training a health workforce with appropriate knowledge, attitudes and skills for this purpose.  She currently serves as the Convenor, Clinical Leadership Group for the NHMRC-recognised Tropical Australian Academic Health Centre and a member of the National Health and Medical Research Council Research Committee for this triennium. Sarah has three young adult sons and loves travel, hiking and other outdoor activities.

Dr. Charlie Labarda

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Charlie Labarda, MD, PhD, is a Professor of Medicine and Dean of the School of Health Sciences at the University of the Philippines Manila (UPM-SHS), where he has taught for more than a decade. He is a regular member of the National research Council of the Philippines, belonging to the Medical Sciences Division (Division III). Before joining the medical faculty at UPM-SHS he trained in at the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the Philippine General Hospital. He finished his PhD in the Department of Psychology at The University of Hong Kong, his Master in Development Management from the Asian Institute of Management (high honors), Doctor of Medicine (cum laude) at the Our Lady of Fatima University-College of Medicine, and his undergraduate Social Sciences studies (cum laude) at UP Tacloban College. He was a topnotcher in the Physician Licensure Examination (8th place).

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Dr. Shafik Dharamsi

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Dr. Dharamsi currently serves as the Dean of the College of Public Health at the University of North Texas Health Science Center. With 25 years of experience, he brings an interdisciplinary background and extensive international and community development experience as an educator, scholar, and administrator.

Dr. Dharamsi’s academic journey began in Canada, where he earned an interdisciplinary PhD from the University of British Columbia (UBC) and achieved tenure in the Department of Family Medicine. He also co-directed the UBC Center for International Health.

 

His work is at the intersection of public health, medical humanities, global health, ethics, and the social determinants of health.

 

Born in Tanzania, Dr. Dharamsi is a first-generation high school and college graduate. He is deeply committed to student success. He began his career as an inner-city schoolteacher.

 

His career includes leadership roles as regional director for early childhood development and poverty alleviation in East Africa with the Aga Khan Development Network, founding associate dean of the School of Osteopathic Medicine at the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, dean of the College of Health Sciences at the University of Texas at El Paso, and senior advisor to the provost at New Mexico State University.

 

Dedicated to advancing public health, Dr. Dharamsi actively serves on the boards of several national and international organizations, including the ASPPH Global Engagement and Partnerships Advisory Committee.

Bjorg Pálsdóttir, MPA

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