Dr Saleh Mohamed Al Khusaiby Personal Reflection on the Interviews Dean, Oman Medical College Sohar Medical Campus Oman Accreditation Council meeting November 2009

Oman Medical College

The Time line  Preparation over one year  Self Study and Draft Report  Over 85 Supplemental Material  Submission of Report in January 2009 The Interview ( 45 minutes)  The Feed back 10 weeks  The Follow up  ne

Oman Medical College  Unique Challenge  Two distant campuses Baushar Sohar  Two different programs Pharmacy Doctor of Medicine  Premed Program 3 years at Baushar  Medical Graduate Program at Sohar  ne

Oman Medical College  Historical Perspective ( )  Sharing Board of Directors and Governing Council  Common Mission Statement and Vision  Affiliated to WVU ( related to MD program)  Common Strategic Planning

Oman Medical College  Separate Academic Faculty and Administrative Staffs  Dedicated Physical and Teaching Resources  Students common campus at Baushar  Separate Medical Campus at Sohar

Preparation for the Interview  Started from day one  Notification of the Audit January 2008  The Governing Council Approval  The Steering group  The Self Study  Data Collection  The Draft Report Review  The Participation of the Faculty and Staffs  Meeting all the subgroups  Students sharing common campus at Baushar  Separate Campus at Sohar

The Content of the Portfolio Report  Mission, Vision, Objectives  Governance and Management  Student Learning  Staff and Faculty  Industry and Community  Academic Support Services  Student and Student Support Services  Staffs and Staff Support Services  General Support Services

The Audit  The Steering Committee Chairman ( Focal point and Chairman)  Early start and Preparation  Survey forms and collecting data  Updating information and data  Review with the different sub-committee

The Interview  Preparing the interviewees  Communicating with the different groups  The venue of the interview  The logistics  Multiple of rooms required

The Day of the Interview  Every one tense  Daunting  Some faculty worried  Baushar first day; Sohar second day  Advantage being on the second day

The Interview Day  Chairman and Contact person previously visited  Receiving and welcoming the Interviewers  Cordial and friendly  A short briefing with the team helpful  Explained proceedings on the day  Any rearrangements discussed  Orientation of the interviewers

The Interview  First person to be interviewed at Sohar  Conscious of the previous day interview at Baushar  The Board of Directors and the Governing Council  Aware of previous proceedings at Muscat  Felt easier and less anxious

The Interview  The Chairman led the first questions  Other members later took their turn  Felt completely at ease and confident  Adequate preparation helped in coping with proceedings  Explained what we are doing, and what we intend to do  Interview lasted 45 minutes  At the end felt that it was short after all the long preparation

Post interview  The feed back after the interview was very helpful  Helped unwind and relieved  Debriefing by the Panel members  Commendations  Affirmations  Recommendations  More supplemental material requested  No recall interview

Post interview  Surprised it was all over  Felt that most of the important issues were explored  Panel had ample of opportunities to explore all areas  Very satisfied we were able to provide information requested  Genuinely great reason for celebration

Lesson Learned  Start Early for the Preparation  Select Steering Committee  Approval by Chairman Governing Council  Formation of Selected committees  Schedule regular meetings  Follow ups and deadline  Review draft Portfolio  Set up policies and procedures

Lesson Learned  Extremely helpful and useful experience  Identified areas of strengths and areas of weakness  Improved our internal operational working relationship  Began to redesign our policy and procedures  Made us aware of the need for proper documentation  Need for Campus wide survey on all aspects of the institution  Need to improve communication among faculty and staffs  Need to improve communication across the two campuses

Lessons learned  Involve all staffs and faculty from the beginning  There is never enough time  It is all over in minutes  More work after the Audit  A Happy and Enjoyable Experience

THANK YOU