Hosting Guest Speakers 'Mr Amir Ibrahim' for the Perspectives workshop for the Medical Student Selected Componen (SSC)(Year 2 MBBS) “Murder or Mercy?”(21st No 2024) and 'Dr Waleed Sulieman' for the Inclusion of Faith Perspectives in Medical Education – Wholeness in Healing Student Selected Component (SSC)(Year 1 MBBS) as a part of my EDI and Curriculum Enrichment activities (28th March 2025)

Description

This initiative exemplifies my sustained commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and curriculum diversification, providing students with opportunities to explore inclusive approaches to healing that respect and reflect the diversity of patients they will serve in clinical practice.

To ensure authentic representation of diverse worldviews in medical education, I invited Dr Waleed Abdel Fateh Sulieman to deliver an inclusive guest session to Y1 medical students focused on culturally and spiritually sensitive care. His talk offered a faith-based perspective on health, illness, and the purpose of suffering, exploring concepts of wholeness, the spiritual meaning of illness, and the role of faith in healing practices, linking spiritual insights to clinical communication and patient-centred care.

Impact: Students reported a deepened understanding of holistic approaches to care and recognised the value of acknowledging patients’ spiritual needs. They described the session as stimulating, relevant due to their clear relevance to real-world clinical practice.

Building on this work, I invited Mr Ameer Ibrahim to participate in a panel discussion for Y2 medical students on perspectives surrounding euthanasia and assisted suicide as part of the second-year medical Student Selected Component (SSC) titled “Murder or Mercy?” Coordinated by Dr David Bell and Dr Vivienne Crawford, this module supports students in articulating their ethical viewpoints on end-of-life decisions and developing sophisticated ethical reasoning in response to complex clinical requests. This approach equips future doctors to respond effectively and compassionately to the ethical dilemmas they will inevitably encounter in practice.. Topics covered include active and passive euthanasia, treatment withdrawal, physician-assisted suicide, and broader principles of medical ethics.

The value of my contribution to this module was affirmed by Dr Vivienne Crawford, who commented: “It was a pleasure to have you. The session went well, and the students were engaged and asked important questions. I also learned a lot.”