Overview

CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE

Basic Medical Sciences (BMS) are the backbone of any undergraduate or graduate program in medical schools throughout the world. The Basic Medical Sciences are central and fundamental not only to educating the next generation of physicians for Saudi Arabia, but also to improving the lives of our citizens through scientific breakthroughs in translational medical research which will make an impact in preventing and treating cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and neurological disorders. Department of Basic Medical Sciences (BMS-J) provides the Basic Medical Sciences courses for the undergraduate medical students in the University, including Anatomy, Biochemistry, Microbiology, Pathology, Pharmacology and Physiology. The Department of Basic Medical Sciences interacts very closely with the other academic units of the University, such as the College of Science and Health Professions, College of Allied Medical Sciences, College of Nursing and the Clinical departments, School of Nursing and its sister departments at the other campuses of the KSAU-HS. As the university grows, department of BMS is envisaged to have greater input into postgraduate and other related programmes of the university.

Department of BMS-J has national and international, high caliber faculty who have years of experience in their fields. We aim to develop the students’ ability to use basic principles in biology to understand and solve problems related to health and disease in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Faculty also provides mentorship to the medical students. The Department aims to strive in achieving excellence in both teaching and research. It promotes to establish a research milieu, which is conducive to learning and creating new knowledge. In time, department of BMS plans to develop thematic research programmes in both the basic and applied research, which will take the department of Basic Medical Sciences, KSAU-HS-J to the next level on the international scene while fulfilling the  specific health care needs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

At the College of Medicine-J we follow KSAU-HS integrated and challenging undergraduate medical curriculum. It is designed to foster self-learning and develop students into life-long learners and researcher. It also inculcates in students critical thinking and logical reasoning and equips them to adapt their knowledge and application of basic sciences to relevant areas in medicine. This department contributes to the Pre-Med programme by introducing the Basic Medical Science disciplines to the students. The first two years’ of the Medical curriculum is a shared responsibility between the Basic Medical Sciences and the Clinical faculty. It is delivered through a problem-based learning format, to small groups of students who meet regularly for approximately five hours per week throughout the first and second years of the programme. Materials from the different Basic Medical Sciences disciplines including Microbiology and Pathology are integrated in a manner relevant to the clinical cases under discussion in the week’s problem. Integrated teaching and learning strategy enhances collaboration between basic sciences and clinical departments and effectively utilizes precious institutional resources.

All Basic Medical Sciences faculty members take on three roles, a teacher, a researcher and an administrator. In the teaching program faculty takes the roles of a PBL tutor, a resource person and an evaluator. In addition to teaching and research our faculty members sit on various college committees and contribute to the functioning and development of the College of Medicine.