Author Archives: Ayesha Rehman

Research Journal: Sunni Schools of Thought

Posted on by

Weiss, A. (1986). The Historical Debate on Islam and the State in South Asia. In Islamic Reassertion in Pakistan (21). New York: Syracuse University Press.

The four sunni schools of thought that have survived are Malikite fiqh, Hanafi fiqh, Shafi fiqh, and Hanbali fiqh. What makes them different from each other? Their approach to man-made interpretations of the Quran. Each school either allows ijma (analogical deduction) or qiyas (collective reasoning) or both or none.

Click on this to access the PDF: Sunni Schools of Thought. Learn which school allows which man-made interpretation(s) and find out where they are prevalent.
Sunni Schools of Thought

Research Journal: “Attention to Local Health Burden and the Global Disparity of Health Research”

Posted on by

Evans, J. A., Shim, J., & Ioannidis, J. A. (2014). Attention to Local Health Burden and the Global Disparity of Health Research. Plos ONE, 9(4), 1-9. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0090147

In this peer-reviewed journal article, two main factors, i.e. global burden of disease and global market for treatment, are analyzed for a correlation with medical research. With the reasoning that biomedical research can be measured using the total number and type of research articles – systematic reviews, randomized controlled trials, and research on animals subject – published in a well-known database called MEDLINE, researchers sought to understand how disease burden and treatment drives research in poor and developed countries. Global burden of disease was measured in disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) for 111 conditions. The global market for treatment was measured as follows:

In the above equation, GNI stands for gross national income per capita.

The findings concluded that despite the fact that poor populations have the highest burden of disease and disability, the least medical research is carried for them. Furthermore, the global market for the same condition in developed country is significantly higher than that for a poor country. It is important to address global inequality in health research because policies based on evidenced-based research can be implemented only when enough research is conducted.

 

Video Journal Entry on “Paul Farmer: Rethinking Health and Human Rights”

Posted on by

UC Berkeley Events. (2009, March 31). Paul Farmer: Rethinking Health and Human Rights. [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwy22pXrig8

In this online Distinguished Health Leadership Lecture Series organized by the University of California, Berkeley, Dr. Paul Farmer discusses community-based health care in poor countries and what strategies can be taken to ensure basic human rights. One of the things that was not always apparent to me was that public health policies are designed with cost-effective approach. (He described cost-effectiveness as the religion of public health.) This plays a significant role in how medical care is delivered in countries with meager public infrastructure. The argument against using expensive medication for poor is that these drugs can be used in other important cases. It is simply not cost-effective to treat drug-resistant cases. That seems very wrong, especially considering that drug-resistant cases arise from mismanagement of medical services, i.e. when patients are moved from one trial to another without properly completing their treatments.

One of the things that I really admire about Dr. Farmer’s philosophy is the idea that standard of care should be uniform and not dependent on a person’s wealth. Therefore, setting low standard of care with the label that that is cost-effective is not right. Instead, policy makers should aim at providing high quality of medical care and work with pharmaceutical industry to bring down drug prices.

Dr. Farmer shared some valuable strategies that potential public health workers can adopt and benefit from. He mentioned that when NGOs from foreign countries work with the public sector, they are able to accomplish far-reaching goals. (I have to research this idea more thoroughly and find out what he meant by “scale” and “rights” as the two main reasons to collaborate with public sector.) He also suggested cutting down consulting fee, which is heavily applied by international agencies.

It was surprising to see that universities that are known for public health research and training have no more than 2% of actual service contributed to real-world work. The lack of implementing research that is conducted in universities is troubling.

Success and Failure Go Hand in Hand

Posted on by

Throughout my middle school years, I had to take Home Economics, a subject that taught students creative and practical skills. Since it’s main focus was non-academic and I lacked the skills, I questioned the importance of it. I asked myself, Why do I have to learn how to cook traditional Pakistani dishes, stitch, sew, create decorative pieces from scrap, make stain glass paintings etc.? Of course, it reflected my inabilities and my singular drive towards only studying hard-core sciences like Chemistry, Physics, and Math. The first time I sat in the class, I could barely follow the instructions of my teacher. Everyone was diligently stitching with thimbles fixed on their fingers and sewing kits filled with tools I couldn’t even name. I could hardly put a thread through the eye of the needle. It seemed so complicated and despite the fact that I have tiny fingers, I maneuvered them as if they were dead logs. My projects were a mess, with unequal distancing and crooked directions of the stitches. Soon I realized that I had to be more scrupulous. Three years later, on the day of our practical exam, I finished stitching the required patterns before anyone in class. After my teacher graded it, she gave it back with a wink. When I got home, I gave that piece of cloth to my youngest sister, who had started talking for a few months then. With her green eyes bulging, I am sure this is what she was thinking, but had no idea how to say: “Do you seriously think I need this?”

Success in Home Economics came after many failed attempts in my beginning days, so when I completed the three-year program, my house was littered with projects and supplies that I accumulated. I had created so many art pieces, from stitched handkerchiefs to beautiful Italian dough flowers. Today they are hanging somewhere on the other side of the globe. My parents framed everything and left it in our hometown. I just hope they survive through the sand storms that come every so often in our semi-desert village, where houses are open spaces with four mud walls.

Effective and Ineffective Websites

Posted on by

I compared two websites that I often use to refresh some concepts or learn something new. I like both of them for the material that they offer. However, I noticed some differences in the structure of their websites, which made me have a preference for one over the other.

I consider edX’s website to be neat, concise, and well organized. (You can access the website here: https://www.edx.org) With a branding statement “Take great online courses from the world’s best universities” you immediately know what the website has to offer. There are tabs on the top, which gives you exactly what you need to know: how it works, the courses that are offered, the universities that are participating, and lastly how to register. I also like how the new classes that are offered can be found as you scroll down. More importantly, you can narrow down your choices by filtering through the subject and university.

On the contrary, I find Khan Academy’s new website structure a bit less engaging. (You can open the website by clicking this link: https://www.khanacademy.org) With the catchphrase “You only have to know one thing: You can learn anything” I was not entirely sure if the message of online lessons through the website was clear. It occurred to me that someone might interpret this as a platform where the reader is convinced of the importance of learning anything. I also think that having a largely empty background with three options (students, teachers, and parents) that takes you to log in through your Facebook or Google+ is off-putting. If you are new to the website, you might not know that you can open the videos without signing in.

Reflecting on My Failure

Posted on by

I opened my pocket dictionary to the word failure after pondering on what to write for this assignment. Failure is defined as lack of success. According to the definition, one academic failure came to mind right away: getting a C in Probability class. It taught me that I have limitations and that I can’t always excel in every area of math. It didn’t come as shock to me because this was one of those topics that I am not really comfortable with, but it confirmed my weakness. It also made me realize that doing miserably in a class didn’t necessarily mean that I had failed as a student. I had done my best under the circumstances. It is just that I should have done things with a different approach. If I could go back to the first day of class, I would take an online class – perhaps one of the many edX classes on Probability – and study from different sources.

Another academic failure in my college years was when I hit all-time low grades in my Analysis (Advanced Calculus) class. Having finished my freshman year with excellent grades, I was determined that I would do the same in the coming semesters. Maybe it was the added pressure to be perfect or the material was simply difficult to grasp, but things started to get foggy. I got single digit scores on my homework and my first test was no different. It was the first that I had done so poorly. I didn’t understand what I was doing wrong. My method of studying had worked all these years and now I was performing low. I felt dejected because no matter how much I tried I didn’t comprehend the problems. I did not want to quit because I didn’t want to admit defeat. It also didn’t help that I was taking 20 credits that semester with 20 hours per week going to my part-time, tutoring job. I knew I was under time pressure, but in the end it all came down to brute force. I had to work harder or everything would fall apart. When the semester ended, I was glad I had continued the class – I had progressed tremendously.

I think failures make us reflect more thoughtfully. You begin asking yourself whether you could have done something differently, whether your choices were right, whether your efforts were enough etc. Changing yourself is hard, but mistakes lets you question yourself, and forces you to create space for change.

 

Research Journal: Mountains Beyond Mountains

Posted on by

Kidder, Tracy. (2003) Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World. New York: Random House.

In this work of nonfiction, Tracy Kidder chronicles the life of Paul Farmer, a dedicated doctor, anthropologist, and infectious-disease specialist, who brings quality health care to an impoverished region in Haiti. Later his organization, Partners in Health (PIH), expands their work in Peru and Russia to fight multidrug-resistant (MDR) TB. Farmer’s fundamental premise for all his efforts is that the poor deserve access to health care just as much as anybody else and that the world should not deny this birthright of basic care, especially when modern medicine has answers to most of the health problems of people in poor countries.

I found this book inspiring because here was a true story that showed how a single person brought about change in neglected places like the prisons in Russia and the villages in Haiti. It is easy to sit back and blame corruption, penury, and lack of democracy as the main obstacles to a stable health care system in third world countries, but we can either turn our backs on the issues or take action. Farmer’s drive to act was laudable. The book also touches on the themes of medical anthropology and explores the importance of incorporating local view of health with modern medical tools. One of my favorite quotes from the book is by an old Haitian woman, who is being treated for TB and who still adheres to believe in voodoo after she has been cured. She says, “Are you incapable of complexity?” At times, it might seem people have contradictory beliefs, but it is best if medical professionals understand them rather than dismiss them.

 

Syllabus

Posted on by

Macaulay Springboard 2014 – 2015

I. Rationale:

This course constitutes of a capstone project that will explore themes of disparities in public health, social medicine, and preventive interventions. With both a reflective and critical component, the one-year plan will tie what I have learnt from service learning projects previously and integrate it with evidenced-based research.

II. Course Aims and Outcomes:

Aims

The goal of this project is to build a thoughtful and well-structured eportfolio, which will serve to spread awareness on public health issues.

Specific Learning Outcomes:

By the end of this course, student will be able to:

  1. Understand the main components of public health, that is, population-based health programs, surveillance, and social justice.
  2. Master research skills by using various modes, ranging from social media to peer-reviewed journals.
  3. Undergo critical analysis of tobacco use and its adverse effects on public health with statistics.
  4. Identify factors affecting health disparities and explore intervention programs.

III. Format and Procedures:

Class meetings constitute of presenting assigned material/ research journal entry and providing constructive criticism.

IV. Tentative Course Schedule (Documentaries, additional readings etc. will be added as I go along)

August 29 (Introductions) – Overview of the springboard class.

September 5 – Discuss timelines, most influential texts, syllabi, research methods, and critique last year’s capstone projects.

September 12 (What is public health? What are the principles, practices, and policies of contemporary public health?) –

1. An Evaluation of the GlobalNetwork of Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Programmes: A Resource for Improving PublicHealth Capacity and Increasing the Number of Public Health Professionals Worldwide. (http://ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=91261331&site=ehost-live)

2. Attention to Local HealthBurden and the GlobalDisparity of Health (http://ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=95817714&site=ehost-live)

3. Global Health in the 21st Century. (http://ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=94991298&site=ehost-live

September 19 (What are some of the top health issues and leading causes of death?) –

1.  The top 10 causes of death (http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs310/en/)

2.  The 10 leading causes of death by country income group (2012) (http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs310/en/index1.html)

3. Explore fact sheets on WHO websites.

September 23 (Understand the tobacco epidemic and find out data and analysis on tobacco control.) –

1. WHO report on the global tobacco epidemic 2013. (http://www.who.int/tobacco/global_report/2013/en/)

2. Find out about successful intervention programs such as Tobacco Free Initiative (TFI).

October 10 (Explore the role of tobacco in increasing risk factors such as pulmonary diseases, coronary heart diseases etc.) –

1. Prevalence of oral mucosal lesions in dental patients with tobacco smoking, chewing, and mixed habits: A cross-sectional study in South India. (http://ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=89621040&site=ehost-live)

2. Is There Any Association between Use of Smokeless Tobacco Products and Coronary Heart Disease in Bangladesh? (http://ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=79911691&site=ehost-live)

October 17 (How do policies on tobacco control effect the use?) –

1. Sweden SimSmoke: the effect of tobaccocontrol policies on smoking and snus prevalence and attributable deaths. (http://ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=96236555&site=ehost-live)

October 24 – 

Bayesian Approach to Zero-Inflated Bivariate Ordered Probit Regression Model, with an Application to Tobacco Use. http://ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=87045747&site=ehost-live

October 31 (What are some interventions taken to lower rates of tobacco use?)

1. “I would do anything for my child, even quit tobacco”: Bonus effects from an intervention that targets adolescent tobacco use. (http://ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=43112606&site=ehost-live)

2. Preventing TobaccoUse Among Young People in India: Project MYTRI. (http://ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=39655718&site=ehost-live)

November 7 (What are some interventions taken to lower rates of tobacco use?) –

1. Pilot evaluation of a population-based health intervention for reducing use of smokeless tobacco. (http://ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=6366367&site=ehost-live

2. Community-based model for preventing tobacco use among disadvantaged adolescents in urban slums of India. (http://ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=50985787&site=ehost-live)

November 14 – TBA

November 21 – TBA

December 5 – TBA

December 12 – TBA