Clinical Master in Family Medicine

Program Overview

​The family physician and other healthcare professionals in Family Medicine are responsible to decrease the gap in the efficiency and performance of the general medical practice. The configuration and structure of Family Medicine have some specific components, as the focus is on expanding clinical practice and encouragement of skills development. Considering the context and clinical environment of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, the family physician is required to undergo a comprehensive clinical rotation for over two years in order to adopt diverse clinical situations.

On the other side, it is important to indicate that theoretical and research activities are carried out separately from the clinical training/medical education to expand the clinical culture and promote the diagnostic and evidence-based approaches in the clinical practice. Through this innovative program, the Arabian Gulf University (AGU) is aiming to develop a new approach in order to boost clinical performance of the physicians and to fulfill the needs of the patient. The program is also aiming to encourage health care institutions to adopt international standards for optimal health care quality. The curriculum and clinical clerkship of Family Medicine have been expanding due to the dynamic and diverse role of the family physician in the modern environment. It comprises of diagnosing an extensive range of health problems, providing health care services​ in the community and residential settings and swiftly responding to health risks. In the current environment, family physicians are responsible to manage long-term illnesses and chronic conditions, together with collaborating with a range of health care professionals under the modern health care system.

This Family Medicine program is developed and intended for graduated physicians. It is implemented in specific healthcare structures acknowledged by AGU. The duration of the program is two years with mandatary attendance in clinical training sites. Besides lectures and tutorials, clinical-based case studies and research courses will be provided.

Vision

The advancement of an innovative training program in clinically oriented Family Medicine in GCC countries and fulfilling the international standards for health and safety.

Mission

The sustainable execution of a clinical training program in Family Medicine in order to enhance the quality of primary health care services in GCC countries.

Program Objectives

Develop the capabilities of physicians to administer pertinent primary health care services.

Achieve the core objectives and standards of the health care systems in the GCC countries.

Increase the ratio of skilled family physicians per patient in the GCC countries to the level of international protocols.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this program, students should be able to:

• Recognize and manage an extensive range of health problems, in all age groups, in different environments at the personal and family level.
• Develop effective communication skills and professional ties with patients, families, communities, and health care providers.
• Adopt the standards of patient-centered care in family medicine practice.
• Resolve the health problems encountered by GCC countries and fulfill their health care needs.
• Ensure adequate and swift referrals to specialized and specific health care services.
• Adopt a comprehensive approach to disease prevention and health promotion.
• Carry out clinical and evidence-based research.

Program Outline

The clinical Master in Family Medicine is a two-year clinically oriented program that consists of 92 weeks duration. The program encompasses core clinical courses along with specific courses that empower the program to develop research capacities. Trainees can consult with the supervisors regarding core clinical courses, research strategies, and processes.

Students who attained the Grade Point Average (GPA) of 3.0 or more will be granted a Master’s degree after the satisfactory completion of the two-year curriculum and research projects.

Students who attain a GPA between 2.0 and 3.0 will be awarded a Diploma degree after the satisfactory completion of the two-year curriculum.

The program is implemented by a Director and decisions are made by an Academic Committee, consisting of members representing the main spheres in the program according to the rules and regulations of AGU.

Outline of Courses

The students study 75.5 Credit Hours inclusive of the research project, which is equivalent to 4 Credit Hours.

The courses cover 71.5 Credit Hours composed mainly of clinical rotations as described in the tables 1 and 2.

Year 2 Schedule

Longitudinal courses on research methodology (CMMS604, 2 Credit hours), ethics, professionalism and leadership (CMMSCFM616, 2 Credit hours), BLS, ACLS well as the research project (CMMSCFM617, 4 Credit hours) will be carried out during the program.

* Family Medicine on call

On Line Accredited Course
In addition to the clinical rotations and face-to-face didactic lectures, the trainees must complete successfully a minimum of 40 credit hours from the list of online courses in table 3. “http://cme.rwjms.rutgers.edu/credit_process.html”

List of Online Courses

Program Competencies

To develop a core curriculum for the Master’s Degree clinical program in Family Medicine, AGU has adopted the Canadian Medical Education Directives for Specialists (CanMEDS) Physician Competency Framework. CanMEDS is used in the Family Medicine clerkship, and postgraduate training programs in several countries. It provides a wide-ranging paradigm for physician competencies and focus principally on assessing medical expertise, in addition to numerous non-medical roles that aimed to fulfill community’s needs in an efficient manner. There are seven areas of competencies in CanMEDS: medical expert, communicator, collaborator, manager, health advocate, scholar, and professional.

These capacities are described as following:

Medical expert:

Considering the role of a medical expert, the family physician can incorporate all the clinical and non-clinical roles, exploiting medical knowledge, scientific skills, and professional approach to the establishment and delivery of patient-centered care. The medical expert as a competency is the physician’s foremost role in the global clinical practice guidelines.

Communicator:

As a communicator, a family physician can successfully simplify the doctor–patient relationship and the dynamic interactions that occur before, during, and after medical examinations.

Collaborator:
As a collaborator, the physician can perform effectively as part of a health care team to attain optimal patient-centered care.

Manager:

As a manager, the family physician is part of the senior management in health care organizations, developing sustainable policies, participating in the decision-making process, responsible to allocate resources, and playing a crucial role in boosting the efficiency of the health care system.

Health advocate:

As a health advocate, the family physician can utilize authority and expertise in a responsible manner to improve the health and well-being of patients, communities, and the public.

Scholar:

As a scholar, the family physician can exhibit his/her long-term commitment to reflective learning and the establishment, distribution, implementation, and transformation of medical knowledge.

Professional:

As a professional, the family physician is committed to provide optimal health care services to individuals and community via ethical practices, profession-led regulations, use of technology, and international standards.

Moreover, the curriculum of the Family Medicine program will encourage additional capabilities related to tutoring as a clinical teacher. After the completion of the first year, students will have the opportunity to participate in Family Medicine clerkship and training program of AGU in the health care facilities.

Methods of Assessment

The assessment and evaluation include constant assessment, clinical rotation assessment, annual assessments, and final examination comprising of written, oral, and clinical evaluations. The assessment is focused on addressing the different features of learning including awareness, understanding, insight, knowledge, competencies, and attitudes. Effective assessment tools will be utilized to the field of expertise i.e. multiple-choice questions (MCQs) for insight and knowledge, as well as extended matching questions for scientific and analytical skills. Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) is also used as an evaluation tool to measure the overall clinical knowledge through direct reviewing/workplace-based evaluation.

Assessment modalities

These are represented below:

Continuous evaluation

This evaluation is carried out toward the conclusion of each clinical clerkship throughout the academic year and at the end of each academic year as a continual means of both developmental and shared evaluation.

Continuous developmental assessment:

To acquire the core competencies based on the assessment of clinical clerkship, the efficiency and performance of physicians will be assessed by supervisors, who evaluate the following capabilities:

• Performance of trainees during day-to-day clinical operations and health care management;
  Achievement and contribution in academic activities.
• Performance related to the direct trainee-patient interaction; the duration of interaction is between 10-20 minutes. Supervisors should carry out Mini Clinical Evaluation Exercise [Mini-CEX] and case-based evaluations.
• The end-of-rotation assessment form for competencies must be filled with the electronic signatures of at least two specialized consultants, within two weeks of the conclusion of each clinical clerkship.
  Theoretical and clinically oriented assignments should be documented on a digital tracking system (electronic logbook when required) on a yearly basis. Assessments are relying on the success of minimum requirements for the clinical skills and procedures.

Combined assessment:

A combined assessment report is prepared constantly for each trainee at the end of each academic year. It comprises of clinical and oral examinations, a structured based practical examination, or OCSE.

End-of-year examination:

The yearly examination will contain the whole clerkship year 1 rotations. The number of examinations, eligibility, and academic achievement score are measured in compliance with the university’s examination guidelines, protocols, and regulations.

The final examination comprises of two segments:

Written examination (40%)

This examination evaluates the trainee’s theoretical awareness, insight, understanding, and knowledge base (together with recent developments) and problem-solving competencies in the family medicine environment; it is provided in an MCQ format and carried out each year.

Clinical examination (60%)

This examination evaluates an extensive range of critical clinical skills including data collection, health care service management, communication, and guidance. The examination is conducted every year in both objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) and patient management problems (PMPs) format. Eligibility and the academic achievement score are measured in compliance with the university’s examination guidelines and regulations.

Graduation Requirements

Clinical Master

Successfully complete 92 weeks of clinical rotations (71.5 Credit Hours).
Conduct a research project (4 Credit Hours).
Obtain a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 out of 4.0.
Diploma

Successfully complete 92 weeks of clinical rotations (71.5 Credit Hours).
Obtain a cumulative GPA between 2.0 and 3.0 out of 4.0.
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