Abstract
Academic medicine is the combined effect of medical education, research, and patient care. It is taught and practiced in academic medical centers that foster patient-centered focus and innovation in research. Historically, the Arab world was home to physicians and scientists that were famous for laying the foundations of academic medicine in Arabia, Europe, and the world-at-large. They described complex medical phenomena, like hydrocephalus, measles, and small pox, and developed several surgical instruments, like catheters, cauteries, forceps, pincers, and scalpels. Later, the wave of conflicts and political unrest that plagued the Arab region shifted the focus from building on the baggage of prestigious accomplishments to spending on wars, conflicts, and corruption. As such, academic medicine in the Arab world lost its remarkable status. Arab physicians and scholars left for countries that offered better work conditions and opportunities for growth. Identifying the downfalls in Arab medicine is necessary to improve its current status. Medical education curricula are mostly teacher-centered and obsolete, and research is neither rewarded nor prioritized. This takes its toll on patient care, as advancement in healthcare delivery and innovation in treatment regimens can only be accomplished through modernized and current education curricula that tackle current health problems. In addition, funding and supporting advanced research works is the way to lead and find new treatments for complex diseases. Facing these challenges is necessary to maintain a standard of academic medicine that lives up to the history and expectations of the hopefuls in the Arab world.
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Fares, J., Salhab, H.A., Fares, M.Y., Khachfe, H.H., Fares, Y. (2020). Academic Medicine and the Development of Future Leaders in Healthcare. In: Laher, I. (eds) Handbook of Healthcare in the Arab World. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74365-3_167-1
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