• Degree Certification
• About
• Characteristics
• Strategies
• The objectives

 Degree Certification

The total duration of the M.B.Ch.B. program is 6 years. The final year will be devoted for practical clinical training. After completion of the study, students who fulfill the requirements will be awarded M.B.Ch.B. degrees. This will make them eligible to be registered with the Medical Council and then able to practice medicine in all institutions of the Ministry of Health in the Kurdistan Region, as well as in Iraq. A two year residency rotating internship will usually follow their registration.

 About

Dr. Melad A. Yalda
Head of the School of Medicine
Vice dean for scientific affairs
eMail: meladalias@uod.ac
Tel: +964 7504641491

Vision Statement
To be a leading medical school in Iraq, internationally renowned for the high quality and relevance of our education programs and for the excellence and significance of our research.

Mission Statement/Institutional Purpose
The mission of Duhok School of Medicine is to assist the people of Duhok and Nineveh Governorates in meeting their health care needs through medical as well as patient education, patient care service by knowledgeable and compassionate doctors of excellence, and high quality up to date research. Duhok School of Medicine will realize this mission through collaboration and partnership with the Directorate General of Health and other health care organizations.

 Characteristics

Scientific Collaboration:

Duhok Medical College (DMC) has developed a wide range of active scientific collaboration with different distinguished national and international bodies, in addition to other medical schools in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. DMC has also developed good relations with the Iraqi Board of Medical Specialization.

Internationally, DMC has developed a partnership with several universities and organizations including:

University of Appalachia, Swedish University of Uppsala, East Tennessee State University, Mississippi Consortium, World Health Organization, Halabja Center for Research, Washington Kurdish Institute, SCHEIK Institute in

 

Training in Primary Health Care:

The college has realizes the importance of engaging students in primary health care training. The aim was to graduate students who are capable of diagnosing, treating and preventing common health problems in their community. To achieve this aim, part of the training for 4th year students was directed to practicing family medicine together with a 2 weeks training course in the PHC, which is conducted in the outpatients departments at the Azadi teaching hospital for the final M.B.Ch.B. students. The aim is to let students practice PHC and deal with family medicine problems before graduation.

The College of Medicine uses the facilities of:

• Azadi teaching hospital, 450 beds
• Heevi hospital for children, 150 beds
• Duhok accident and emergency hospital, 150 beds
• Zanist family medicine center
• Child mental health center
• Rehabilitation center
  

A number of other medical centers have links with the college.  

Continuing Medical Education:

The college realized the importance of continuing medical education in providing updated knowledge and skills to doctors and other health personnel. The need for this has become even more urgent due to the isolation of Iraq in general and Kurdistan province in specific from the rest of the world, particularly after 1990.

The college has established a good communication with the continuing medical education center established at the Directorate of Health in Duhok.

The mission of the center is to provide educational and training activities to health staff to maintain and improve their professional competence by acquiring new knowledge and upgrading their skills to enhance high quality of health care.

The college staff has an active participation in the center. Moreover, the staff, as other participants, will be accredited through the CME credit points aiming at measuring their involvement in the educational activities.

 Strategies

Curriculum:

The curriculum is based on the general rules laid down by the Ministry of Higher Education.

In general, the curriculum follows a traditional style of learning with a community-oriented approach in responding to the specific needs of individuals and population.

This has been achieved by a flexible curriculum to address such needs and enrollment of students in primary health care activities in health centers.

Examinations:

Examinations are conducted in the first and second trimester each year to be followed by a final year examination.

Those assessments will have a big load in the final year examination.

The aim is to test students in a comprehensive manner using different tools of student's assessment strategies for the domains of knowledge, skill and attitude. Students who fail in one of the subjects are allowed to have a re-sit examination at the end of the summer vacation.

Those who fail again are given one last chance by repeating the year and if they are unable to fulfill the requirements, they will be dismissed from the college.

The final M.B.Ch.B. examination is taken after completion of the six-year medical program and having satisfied all previously set requirements.

This is a comprehensive examination composed of written, clinical and oral tests. Students are only allowed for two re-sit examinations at 6-months intervals, otherwise they will be dismissed with no degree.
 

This is usually targeted to the final-year students through participation of external examiners from other medical colleges in Iraq, as well as other European countries, mainly the United Kingdom.

External examiners will be actively involved in student's evaluation and in putting the final marks. They are also requested to give a report stating their impression about the standard of the teaching process. All those comments will then be carefully studied and changes will be imposed as needed.

Following accreditation reports of the external examiners, the college received recognition from the General Medical Council in the United Kingdom and from the ECFMG Board in the United States of America.
 
Furthermore, annual accreditation of the staff is usually conducted by the heads of the departments and the dean.

The aim, among others, is to assess the teaching, participation and student outcome of each.

This accreditation will have incentive on the conduct of the teaching staff and this will bring a stimulus for improving their teaching standards.

 The objectives

The Objectives of DCM are:
 

1. To graduate highly-skilled doctors who will be able to address health problems in their community.
2. To conduct research targeted at solving common problems in the community.
3. To provide opportunities for a wide range of postgraduate studies leading to higher degrees for doctors in the region.
4. To contribute in spreading and updating medical knowledge and skills among doctors through continuous medical education.
5. To be the main source of medical expertise and service delivery for the province through active participation of the staff in hospitals and health centers.
6. To be the foundation for health promotion, by adopting preventive medicine approach and health education.