131101P - THE 7 DIMENSIONS OF PROFESSIONALISM FOR THE MUSLIM PHYSICIAN: A NEW PARADIGM FROM THE ISLAMIC WORLD VIEW OF A COMPLETE WAY OF LIFE - (Word Slides)

Presentation on November 1, 2013 by Professor Omar Hasan Kasule Sr. MB ChB (MUK), MPH (Harvard), drPH (Harvard) Faculty of Medicine King Fahad Medical City Riyadh at pre-conference dinner of the International Conference and Workshop held at Banda Aceh, Indonesia under the theme ‘Meningkaktan Pelayan Kesehatankepadapasiensdengankaidah tauhid’

THE ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVE

·         Every society succeeds if its activities are aligned with its world-view. The practice of medicine by Muslims must therefore be aligned with the Islamic world view, al tasawwur al Islami, or the Qur’anic world-view, tasawwurqur’aniyyatkawniyyat, that derive from the integrative doctrine of tauhid.

·         The search for an Islamic perspective in medicine started in earnest with the dawn of the 15^th century of hijra when the First International Conference on Islamic Medicine was held in Kuwait in 1981.

ISLAMIC MEDICINE

·         Another milestone was the definition of Islamic medicine as medicine that conforms or does not contradict Islamicparadigms, values, ethics, and Law and not as specific therapies or procedures.

·         This paradigmatic shift led to founding of the Islamic hospital consortium and the Islamic medical college consortium that have been working to make the Islamic perspective of medicine a reality.

DEFINITION OF PROFESSIONALISM

·         A basic foundation stone of this change is a Muslim medical professional. The present definitions of professionalism reflected the western secular world-view so the author made an effort to study basic Islamic paradigms and formulate an Islamic definition of professionalism.

·         Professionalism from an Islamic perspective should be based on basic values that consist of faith (iman), consciousness (taqwat), best character (ahsan al akhlaq), excellent performance (itqaan al ‘amal), strife toward perfection (ihsan), responsibility (amanat), and self-accountability (muhasabat al nafs).

PROPOSED ISLAMIC FORMULATION OF THE BASIC VALUES OF PROFESSIONALISM

·         Faith (iman)

·         Consciousness (taqwat)

·         Best character (ahsan al akhlaq),

·         Excellent performance (itqaan al ‘amal),

·         Strife toward perfection (ihsan),

·         Responsibility (amanat),

·         Self-accountability (muhasabat al nafs).

IMAN

·         Iman improves professionalism in two ways:

·         Motivating the practice of holistic medicine emanating from the integrative doctrine of tauhid

·         Making the physician more humble and less arrogant through the realization that he is an agent and the not the cause of cure; cure is in Allah’s pre-determination, qadar.

TAQWAT

·         Taqwat makes the physician conscious of his duties and meticulous in performance in the full knowledge that Allah is watching and knows all what is being done

·         Human observers who cannot see hidden mistakes and bad intentions.

AKHLAQ

·         Akhlaq ensure the best human interaction between the physician on one hand and the patients and professional colleagues on the other hand

·         Akhlaqmanifesting as balance (tawazun), humility (tawadh’u), brotherhood (ukhuwwat), social respectability (muru’at),

ITQAN & IHSAN

·         Itqan andihsan motivate the physician to improve his skills and knowledge to have the best outcome in his medical procedures.

·         Itqandoing the best possible

·         Ihsan is strife towards perfection

AMANAT

·         The physician should take his work as a trust (amanat)

·         Amanat = sincerity of intentions (ikhlas al niyyat);

·         Amanat = quality work (itqan&ihsan)

·         Amanat = Social responsibility.

MUHASABAT

·         The physician will accept accountability (muhasabat) for any defects in the work and will be ready to make corrections and amends.

·         Looking at yourself in the mirror

·         Allowing fellow physicians to be your mirror