Where is critical care medicine in today's undergraduate medical curriculum?
Critical Care Medicine is a well-established specialty in developed countries. Medical students have exposure to it at undergraduate level and it is an independent subspecialty at postgraduate level. However, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Critical Care Medicine is minimally taught under other subject headings in Surgery, Internal Medicine or Anesthesia. This article discusses the need for the inclusion of Critical Care Medicine in the undergraduate curriculum for better integration of basic and clinical sciences on one hand and improvement of the student's base of knowledge and quality of patient care on the other.
Qutub
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Intensive Care Unit, King Fahd Hospital of the University, PO Box 40133, Al-Khobar 31952, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. hqutub@hospital.kfu.edu.sa
D002983:Clinical Competence / Q000592:standards; D003422:Critical Care / Q000592:standards; D003479:Curriculum / Q000592:standards*; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D020380:Needs Assessment / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D012529:Saudi Arabia