A Productive Ramadan

In recent years, Ramadan has had such a bad press amongst Muslim and Non-Muslim as being the month of laziness, over-eating, unproductivity and delays!.

That was until 2010... the year we want to change all of this and fight this stereotype. We want to have a super productive Ramadan, a Ramadan unlike any other Ramadan. We want to live Ramadan in the same spirit as the companions of the Prophet, who lived it fasting, praving, working hard and being productive!.

Ramadan is the month of action, productivity, and high spirit! If you're NOT productive in Ramadan, when will you ever be?

A fundamental shift needs to occur in the mind set of our communities where they see Ramadan as the month of relaxation "because we're fasting".. we need to shift away from that and instead bild the mindset that because we're fasting we should not relax but continue to work hard.

The above will occur if we start to understand the meaning of Ramadan, the opportunity of Ramadan, and the blessing of Ramadan. As a dear friend of mine once told me, "how many Ramadan do we get to see in our life time?

On to practical tips: If you ever struggled to maintain a productive lifestyle during Ramadan, below are our tips for having a truly productive Ramadan!

1. Don't skip Suhoor! It's amazing how many people eat their last meal before a fasting day at 10-11 pm and go to sleep never intending to wake up for suhoor except for a glass of water (maybe) and continue to fast for the next day on just that!. No wonder you become tired and lethargic during the day! To have a productive Ramadan, you need to start your fasting with energy packed suhoor, full of yummy filling food, that would take you through the day on high energy levels. Try to eat it as late as possible (around 30 minutes before fajr), prepare the food the night before and make sure you have 10 alarms set up so you don't miss it!.

2. Master Your Sleep Cycle: Sleep can be problematic during Ramadan- you can't sleep early because of all the night prayers, and you need to wake up early for suhoor and fajr. Tough choice? Actually, it's not really a problem. Here are 2 quick solutions:

- Get over psychological barrier: Get over this idea that unless I have 8 hours of sleep, I cannot be awake next morning or be productive. Just having that thought in mine makes you feel 'sleep deprived' throughout Ramadan. Yes, you should have adequate sleep, but 'adequate' can be interpreted in many ways and I invite you to reseach on some of latest 'sleep science' about how to optimise your night sleep, you'll be suprised at what you find!.

- Master power Naps: Do your best to have a 20 minute nap during the day, these are amzing energy boosters for any productive Muslim during Ramadan! (p.s. Don't do more than 20 minutes).

3. Keep up the spiritual buzz! It's hard to have a productive Ramadan if y ou see fasting and prayer as a 'burden' rather than enjoyable spiritual pursuits. And the only way for you to really enjoy Ramadan is to understand your action: understand why you're fasting, understand why you're praying and why you're reading Qur'an. To help you with this, do attend 'pre Ramadan' course to get yourself buzzing about Ramadan and super excited about it! Learn about reward, welcome it with happiness and leave it with sadness... the more we enjoy Ramadan, the more we'll be able to have a truly Productive Ramadan insha-Allah.

abu aiman

scortland

4 Ramdan 1431H

adapted from The Muslim Paper

Bertemu Prof Ronald M Harden

Di antara perkara yang menarik dan bermakna sepanjang berada di University Of Dundee ialah dapat bertemu dengan Profesor Ronald M Harden. Kami sangat bernasib baik kerana walaupun beliau amat sibuk serta baru sahaja kembali dari Tokyo, tetapi beliau dapat meluangkan masa bersama kami serta memberikan kuliah dan tips yang sangat berguna berkaitan dengan bidang yang sedang kami pelajari sekarang.

Profesor Ronald M Harden merupakan tokoh pendidikan perubatan (Medical Education) bertaraf dunia yang mengasaskan dan membangunkan beberapa pendekatan dalam kurikulum dan Pengajaran & Pembelajaran pendidikan perubatan seperti OSCE, Task-Based Learning Aproach, Outcome Based Education, PBL, Curriculum Mapping, Portfolio Assessment dan Pembelajaran Secara Jarak Jauh (PJJ). Beliau telah menghasilkan lebih dari 400 penerbitan buku dan jurnal. Di Malaysia sendiri, beliau sering dijemput sebagai pakar rujuk oleh beberapa universiti tempatan serta KKM sendiri.

Selepas bersara sebagai Pengarah di Pusat Pendidikan Perubatan (Centre of Medical Education) di University Of Dundee, beliau terlibat aktif memberikan ceramah di seminar dan konferens berkaitan dengan Medical Education di seluruh dunia. Beliau juga merupakan General Secretary and Tresurer of the Association for Medical Education in Europe (AMEE).

abu aiman

University Of Dundee

Scortland

Lawatan ke HICESC di University Of Hertfordshire UK

Pada 29 Julai 2010, kami dalam rangka lawatan ke London sempat singgah di University Of Hertfordshire, di Hertfield untuk bertemu dengan team BPL di university tersebut. Sepanjang berada di University tersebut kami berpeluang untuk mendengar kuliah yang berkaitan dengan Simulasi Pembelajaran Klinikal di 'The Hertfordshire Intensive Care & Emergency Simulation Centre (HICESC)'. Kuliah disampaikan oleh Dr Guillaume Alinier dari School of Post Graduate Medicine.

University of Hertfordshire merupakan Medical Simulation Centre yang terbesar di UK. Pusat ini mula dibangunkan pada tahun 1998 dan telah berkembang dengan pesat sehingga sekarang dan telah menjadi rujukan dari seluruh dunia. Pembelajaran perubatan/klinikal secara simulasi ini telah menjadi satu model tambahan kepada kemahiran klinikal. Terdapat lebih dari 100 prosidur 'high-fidelity patient simulators' yang telah digunakan di pusat ini.

Mengikut sejarah, simulasi terawal telah dibangunkan pada abad ke 18 oleh Madame du Coudry melalui 'birthing machine' (Gelbart, 1998). Satu abad selepas itu, Laerdal Resusci-Anne mannequins telah membangunkan model bagi kegunaan 'life saving skills' seperti CPR yang telah banyak digunakan sekarang. Selepas itu, teknologi simulasi perubatan telah berkembang dengan pesat. Teknologi simulasi pwrubatan ini telah banyak membantu pelajar-pelajar perubatan serta sains bersekutu bagi meningkatkan kemahiran psikomotor, kognitif dan komunikasi. Melalui perpatah 'practice makes perfect', pendedahan pelajar kepada simulasi 'critical incidents' akan menjadikan mereka bertindak dengan pantas dan tepat dalam kejadian sebenar nanti.

Menggunakan model dari HICESC ini, KPP Ulu Kinta telah mula menjalankan projek ini sejak beberapa tahun lalu. Diharapkan teknologi ini akan terus mendapat sokongan pihak atasan dan ia sedikit sebanyak dapat meningkatkan kemahiran klinikal pelajar-pelajar PPP khasnya dan pelajar-pelajar sains kesihatan bersekutu yang lain.

abu aiman
Scortland UK