Alsheikh Ghanim, Al-Sheikh Mustafa, Kadhim Talib, Hassoon Abbas, Rowandozi Injam, Mustafa Omar
WHO Collaborating Centre for Public Health Education and Training, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.
Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Trust, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
East Mediterr Health J. 2022 Jul 31;28(7):539-548. doi: 10.26719/emhj.22.046.
The first medical college in Iraq was established in 1927, adopting a subject-based curriculum.
To provide a description of undergraduate medical education curricula in Iraq and how they developed since 1927.
We identified Iraqi medical schools and curricula from local and global directories. Curricular data were compared to 3 educational benchmarks (Dale's effectiveness of teaching methods, SPICES, Miller's pyramid). We searched for studies describing curricula and modernization.
There are 34 medical colleges in Iraq (32 with identified curricula) with a wide scope of visions and aims adopting 3 types of curriculum: subject-based (SBC) 20 (63%), integrated (IC) 10 (31%) and problem-based learning (PBLC) 2 (6%). The majority of updates were SBC to IC, with only 1 moving from SBC to PBLC. The predominant type of curriculum at the start of instruction is SBC or IC. Although PBLC and IC provide opportunities for inquiry-driven competencies in the first 3 years only, none provide such opportunities in the clinical phase (last 3 years).
Curricular reform needs to focus on modernizing the learning process/outcomes rather than reorganization of the teaching only. A new approach is needed to provide opportunities for competence and experience to prepare doctors to deal with challenges. One such approach would be the adoption of an outcomes-based curriculum model based on domains of competence with clearly defined outcomes/competencies achievable the time of graduation. All curricula should lead to the achievement of the same outcomes.
