Exploring Avenues for Co-operation in Medical Education

Dr Rawya bint Saud al Busaidiya, Minister of Higher Education, received a number of medical education experts from Austria and Oman in her office at the Ministry on Tuesday. The visiting delegation from Austria consisted of Professor Dr Herbert Resch, Dean and Rector of Paracelsus Medical Private University in Salzburg, Austria and Erik Vissius-Irshaid, Director Business Development at Salzburg University Hospital — Paracelsus Medical University.

The Paracelsus Medical University in co-operation with Salzburg University Hospital in Austria, is specialized in advanced medical education in a variety of disciplines. Other participants at the meeting were Dr Saleh Mohamed al Khusaiby, Dean of Oman Medical College, Dr Rahul K Arora, Dean of Oman Dental College, and Professor Nafsiah Binti Shamsudin, Dean of the College of Pharmacy and Nursing at the University of Nizwa.

The meeting provided an opportunity for the private medical institutions in Oman — which are under the general supervision of both the Ministry of Higher Education and the Ministry of Health– and the representatives of the Paracelsus Medical University in Austria, to explore avenues for future co-operation in areas such as research, training, sharing of educational expertise and knowledge and visits of students to the Austrian University.

The minister also stressed the need for new specialisations in the field of medical education in the Sultanate. In Oman there is especially a growing demand for allied health services, which includes nursery, physiotherapy and speech pathology. Dr Saleh Mohamed al Khusaiby, Dean of Oman Medical College in Sohar, underlined the growing need for allied healthcare professionals at both undergraduate as well as postgraduate level in Oman. For instance, there is a need for physiotherapists and professionals specialised in rehabilitation, in view of the neurotrauma injuries resulting from road accidents in the country, as well as in view of the aging part of the population.

Dr Saleh also noted the need for training in specialized areas such as Intensive Care and Geriatrics. Aside from exploring avenues of co-operation in the area of allied health services, other specialized areas and sending students abroad, the minister also asked the Austrian experts about the activities of the Paracelsus Medical University in stem cell research and therapy for treatment of chronic diseases such as diabetes and multiple sclerosis. Currently, many Omanis still travel abroad to seek this type of medical help for these chronic diseases.

Within the context of exploring avenues of international co-operation, a high-level delegation from Oman will visit the St Luke’s Episcopal Hospital in Houston, Texas in the United States, on Saturday. In April 2009, the Texas Heart Institute at the St Luke’s Hospital announced the formation of an endowed chair for cardiac electrophysiology studies and research which was established through a grant from His Majesty the Sultan. The delegation, led by the minister of Higher Education, will include, among others, the under-secretary of the Ministry of HealthMinistry of HealthLoading… and vice-chancellor of Sultan Qaboos University.

The objective of the visit is to explore areas of co-operation in the medical field, including research and training of medical officers, especially in the cardiac-related field. Some physicians who will be part of the high-level delegation emphasised the need in Oman for training of professionals in medical imaging which is a technique and process used to create images of the human body for clinical purposes and medical science, which can involve the heart and breast, thereby helping in the detection and prevention of breast cancer.

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