The Western Jewish Medical Club and the Muslim Medical Students’ Association have joined forces to present a panel discussion on Tuesday, April 21 designed to explore health issues unique to Muslim and Jewish patients.
While raising awareness of health issues is the driving force behind a student-led presentation being held tomorrow at The University of Western Ontario, Jewish and Muslim students from the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry hope their collaborative efforts can demonstrate the importance of overlooking differences and working towards a common goal.
“We believe that as future physicians, it is our duty to be culturally sensitive towards the patients we treat and we hope that this event will help raise awareness about the health issues affecting Jewish and Muslim patients,” says Abdullah Alabousi, a representative from the Muslim Medical Students’ Association.
“We hope that this event will serve as a symbolic demonstration that Muslim and Jewish students can see beyond their differences and work together to raise awareness about each others’ cultures,” says Danny Mendelsohn, President of the Western Jewish Medical Club.
Dr. Nabil Sultan, a London-based nephrologist (a physician with an expertise in kidney diseases, kidney transplantation, and dialysis therapy) will discuss such topics as ‘Religion and Healing,’ ‘The Muslim Physician’s Perspective: Is it encouraged or ignored?,’ ‘Porcine Valves: Lard and Other Pig By-Products in Medicine’ and ‘End of Life Issues: Withdrawal of Care and Pronouncing of Death.”
William Fisher, a Western professor of Psychology and Obstetrics and Gynaecology, will be speaking about Judaism’s perspective on contraception, abortion, end of life issues and the Jerusalem AIDS project – a collaboration between Jewish and Muslim physicians and researchers in Israel and Palestine targeted at preventing the spread of HIV in the region.
The event is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in Room M146, Medical Sciences Building. The talk will also be presented via videoconference to Schulich medical students at the University of Windsor.
For more information, please contact Abdullah Alabousi at 519-852-9810 or Danny Mendelsohn at 519-619-0199.