Læknaneminn - 01.04.1997, Page 14

Education in family and community
health in a developing country:
The Sultanate of Oman
Thord Theodorsson
Summary
Amid growing international awareness of the
importance of well established primary health care ser-
vices, an account is given of the development of a new
medical school in a developing country. A brief
description of Oman is provided. The role of the
department of Family and Community Health
(FAMCO) at the University of Sultan Qaboos in the
undergraduate medical curriculum is discussed. The
emphasis being placed on a patient-centred approach
in the deaprtment of FAMCO is highlighted. Also
discussed is problem-oriented community approach
implemented in the medical curriculum.
INTR0DUCT10N
All nations face an insoluble equation in striving to
provide health care for all. The demand for medical
care increases exponentially with rising expectations
and technological advances. Common dilemmas are
how to allocate, share and use finite resources. Primary
health care is the keystone to any health care system
and is the best foundation for reducing risks and ther-
efore illness. In the 21st century a tidal wave of chron-
icity will hit all advanced systems ‘.
Added to that prospect there is another dilemma al-
ready widespread not only among Western nations but
also among developing populations, and that is the
patients’ dissatisfaction with high-tech health care sy-
stems. That problem originates from the doctor-
centredness prevailing in medical consultations around
the world and the failure of recognising the distinction
By Thord Theodorsson MD College of Medicine
Dept ofFAMCO Sultan Qaboos University
PO Box 35 Al Khod Postal Code 123 Sultanate of Oman
between illness versus disease. The consequence has
been a crisis in medicine, which calls for a response2.
Family physicians in particular have taken on this chal-
Ienge and have developed their own clinical method
accordingly3.
Therefore primary health care, with family medicine
as its cornerstone, has increasingly come to the for-
eground as the base of any health care delivery. Medical
schools around the world have also responded, albeit
slowly, by revamping their undergraduate curricula
and increasing the input of family and community
medicine.
In Oman the medical school dates back to 1986 with
the inauguaration of Sultan Qaboos University. This
paper describes in brief the undergraduate medical
curriculum as it has developed from the inception of
the medical faculty.
THE OMANI BACKDROP
Oman, a country larger than Britain and three times
the size of Iceland, is the second largest country of the
Arabian Peninsula and is situated at its eastern end. It
is relatively sparsely inhabited by a populadon of
around 2 million, including 25% Indian, Pakistani and
Baluchi immigrants as well as expatriates from nearly
every corner of the globe.
Oman is largely desert (~ 80%), but bordering on
the coastal region is a mountainous ridge, with its hig-
hest peak at slightly more than 3000 metres. The
climate varies from region to region. The coast is hot
and humid, while the interior is hot and dry. Tempera-
tures peak at the high forties at the coast in summer
and at more than 50 degrees C in the interior (where
the oilfields are located). Winters are cooler, daytime
temperature in mid twenties.
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1. tbl. 1997, 50. árg.