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Presented
at a Seminar on Islamization of the Medical Curriculum and Practice held at the
International Islamic University Kuantan Malaysia 26-27th August 2013 by
Professor Omar Hasan K Kasule MB ChB (MUK), MPH (Harvard), DrPH (Harvard) EM omarkasule@yahoo.com, WEB: www.omarkasule.blogspot.com
Before 1995 some medical schools such as Yarsi required their
students to study Qur’an and other Islamic sciences as part of the curriculum.
The year 1995 was pivotal when Islamic medicine was defined at a PPIM Seminar
in KL in July 1995 as Islamic values and paradigms in medicine and not specific
modalities. This opened the door to Islamization of scientific medicine and
medical practice. In the same year the planning for the Islamic Input in the
Medical Curriculum (IIMC) that was implemented at Kuantan with the first batch
of students. IIMC presented the following Islamic themes fully integrated into
the rest of the curriculum: basic Islamic concepts, Islamic civilization,
epistemology, creation and the basic medical sciences, medical fiqh especially
ibadat pesakit, medical ethics, fiqh muamalat, personal development, and
leadership and management. The curriculum was integrated in three ways: the
teachers of medical subjects were also the teachers of IIMC, IIMC was
integrated in the lectures of specific disciplines, and items on IIMC were
integrated in all examinations. Practical components were added by the
departments of orthopedics, gynecology, and internal medicine and the name of
the program was change to the Islamic Input in the Medical Program (IIMP). The
period 2000-2004 witnessed intense efforts to popularize the program at many
seminars, conferences, and workshops in Malaysia. As a result several nursing
and medical schools took up the idea. UISM requested IIUM professors for help
to set up their program and they added many interesting innovations and
improvements. The Selangor University Nursing school adopted some aspects of
IIMC. The period 2005-2009 witnessed intense efforts at seminars and
conferences to popularize the IIMC in other Asian countries such as Brunei,
Indonesia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and India. IIMC was taught at the Faculty of
Medicine University of Brunei 2005-2009. Teaching the Islamic input proceeded
at various medical schools in Indonesia. As graduates of IIMC started practicing
in various hospitals in Malaysia from 2003 onwards, concepts of IIMC became
known more especially as patients and hospital administrators observed that
these doctors had extra value added to their education that impacted patient
care positively. This contributed partially to the growth of the Islamic
Hospital Consortium (IHC) that has now more than 10 member hospitals. The
success of the Malaysian IHC has influenced similar efforts in Indonesia,
Bangladesh, and other countries. IIMC has matured and it is now time to make a
deep evaluation to guide future developments.