FIMA Year Book 2009 - Federation of Islamic Medical Associations

EditorialDrs Iqbal Khan, Rehan Khan, and Masood Anwar elaborate on this point. Theyopine that “Islamic ethics is far more superior than Western medical ethics asit protects both the doctor and the patient not only from the sins of worldlystandards but also of divine standards too.”In this conjuncture I will add that the recent biotechnological advances, e.g,the various assisted reproductive technologies including gamete donationand surrogacy, stem cell research, cloning, organ donation, etc. raised majorethical, social, religious and legal issues. Islamic organizations consisting ofIslamic scholars, physicians, scientists have been formed to give the Islamicperspective on these issues. Examples include IOMS, Rabitat al-‘Alam al-Islami,Federation of Islamic Medical Associations (FIMA) and in North America, theethics committee of the Islamic Medical Association of North America (IMANA),a member of FIMA , and many others. The latter published position papersabout Islamic medical ethics, and stem cell research in booklet formats, (10,11)while Islamic scholars issue fatwas (religious decrees).Drs. Iqbal Khan et al also argue that the most significant constituent ofan effective curriculum for Muslim doctors is the integration of behavioralelements based on the truthful understanding of Islamic medical ethicalvalues. They stress the importance of the teacher as a role model for thestudents and the importance of having an Islamic environment in the medicaleducational institution / teaching hospitals. They also stress the importanceof continuing medical education.In another article Dr Iqbal Khan along with Dr Anis Ahmed stress theimportance of quality control in higher education. Measures have to be in placeto assess the quality of the infrastructure, the services, human resources,curricula, instructional strategies, and research quality. It should also assessthe quality of the student selection process , their as well as the alumniperformance. The quality assessment should address the academic counseland faculty development. They equate quality control with the Islamic conceptof Ihsan(excellence). They propose different of quality control models anddescribe benchmarks to be used in the assessment.In this yearbook the different aspects of integrating Islamic values in medicaleducation, research, practice and ethics is presented. It does bring outidealistic ideas but all can be implemented if there is a determined leadership.It behooves all of us to keep these lofty goals in mind and to work hard toimplement them everyone in his or her sphere of responsibility. We ask thatFIMA takes a leading role and to continue its efforts in this regards.I conclude by thanking all the authors who contributed to this issue. I especiallythank Drs Aly Misha’l, Abul Fadl Ebrahim, and Musa Nordin for their valuableFIMA YearBook 2009XIV