Tuesday, 06 February 2007

JEDDAH: The King Abdul-Aziz Medical City in Jeddah will establish a new medical college and a diabetic center at the King Khalid National Guard Hospital as part of their new services.

Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabea, Executive Director General for Health Affairs at the National Guard Hospital, said the college's aim is to prepare the students and teach them the science of medicine. This will be done in an academic environment that will give them the opportunity to serve patients in a better way.

"The college graduates will get experience in bedside manners and will decide the line of treatment for each patient," Al-Rabea added.

Ayah Attiya, a student from Jeddah, was optimistic about the new establishment. High school graduates suffer a lot of disappointment in not being accepted in public medical colleges because they need a high GPA and most graduates can't make it.

"Maybe this way, we will have more doctors who are more practically prepared than other medical college students in the Kingdom," Attiya said. "The fact the curriculum focuses on bedside manners is more exciting than just memorizing a text book and putting it on exam papers. By doing this they gain both knowledge and experience at the same time."

The new college will focus on novel teaching techniques that involve patient observation and finding medical solutions and treatments for them. The course will also depend on the presence of the student himself.

A separate laboratory section for tests as well as other labs specialized in prescribing medications for certain cases, will also be part of the college campus.

"All labs will be fully equipped with the latest equipment, as well as Harvey's heart samples, patient samples and an anatomy samples for students to work on," Al-Rabea added.

The college's curriculum will be taught in four academic years and is divided into three stages. The first stage will be an intermediate stage and will take place within one academic semester. The second stage will be two main academic medical years, while the third stage covering a period of two years will be focused on practical training on treatment of patients admitted to the hospital.

Ahmed Alawy, a graduate student's father, said this could help in decreasing the large number of students who can't go to public universities because of their low GPA's and end up wandering on streets with nothing to do.

"At least high school graduates will feel they are useful and they can be someone someday," Alawy said.

For this huge project to succeed, the KAAMC will provide the college with the latest information needed and related to medical issues. It will also attract a number of medical teaching sources available in the medical field.

Al-Rabea said the diabetic center is a necessity since the percentage of diabetics in Saudi Arabia has increased from 2.5 percent in 1970, five percent in 1980, 12.40 percent in 1990 to 17 percent in the year 2000.

"The number of diabetic patients will increase to 330 million by 2025," Al-Rabea said.

There has been a significant increase among teenagers and children and the center will help these patients as well as aid in decreasing their number in time.

Talal Abdul-Malik, a diabetic patient, was grateful to know there is a specialized center for diabetics, which can help and treat them well. "We have no diabetic centers around even though it's very important to have them because many people are suffering from the disease, which is spreading with time; it's just like the flu," he said.

In the past seven years, the medical city in Jeddah has witnessed a big transformation in services and establishments, giving the National Guard Hospital a better standing.

In Saudi Arabia, there are a number of public and private medical universities and colleges, including the King Abdul Aziz University, Faculty of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences in Jeddah and Madina, the King Faisal University, College of Medicine in Dammam and Al-Ahsa and the King Khalid University, College of Medicine and Medical Sciences in Abha. Additionally, there's the King Saud University, College of Medicine in Riyadh and Qaseem,the Umm Al-Qura University,the College of Medicine in Makkah and Taibah and the medical college in Madina University.

Private medical colleges include the Al-Batterjee medical college in Jeddah and the Ibn-Seena private medicine college also in Jeddah.

By Shroog Talal Radain

© The Saudi Gazette 2007