Chatting with Ghaith Alfakhry on his journey from dentistry into medical education in Syria

Ghaith Alfakhry, a dentist by background shares his journey into medical education his passion for advocating for change in Syria. In episode eleven we chat with Dr Ghaith Alfakhry, a dentist turned educationalist, from Syria. He shares his journey into medical education as a dentistry student, where teaching English as a second language sparked his interest in teaching and learning. This was followed by his first educational research project, looking at why medicine is taught in Arabic in Syria, when other Middle Eastern countries teach it in English. As an early career researcher, Ghaith has published numerous research papers (which can be found here: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=U2Q3iTIAAAAJ&hl=en) on the learning environment in Syria and assessment – all sparked by his own educational experiences. His passion, self-determination and resilience come through clearly, along with a growth mindset, viewing the peer review process as an iterative learning journey – welcoming reviewing feedback. Ghaith then goes on to speak about AMES – the Association for Medical Education in Syria (see AMES’ YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@AMES-AssociationforMedicalEduc where I joined Ghaith for a MedEd debate on ‘assessment destroying learning’) – a non-profit, non-governmental organisation he has founded and runs, detailing the immense challenges to health professions education in Syria, along with his vision for transforming it. He ends with a call to those thinking of medical education to take the leap – it is a rewarding career. If interested in contacting Dr Alfakhry, please email him at: [email protected].

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