Some Muslim medical students are refusing to attend lectures or answer exam questions on alcohol-related or sexually transmitted diseases because they claim it offends their religious beliefs.

 

Some trainee doctors say learning to treat the diseases conflicts with their faith, which states that Muslims should not drink alcohol and rejects sexual promiscuity.

 

A small number of Muslim medical students have even refused to treat patients of the opposite sex. One male student was prepared to fail his final exams rather than carry out a basic examination of a female patient.

 

The religious objections by students have been confirmed by the British Medical Association (BMA) and General Medical Council (GMC), which both stressed that they did not approve of such actions.

It will intensify the debate sparked last week by the disclosure that Sainsbury’s is permitting Muslim checkout operators to refuse to handle customers’ alcohol purchases on religious grounds. It means other members of staff have to be called over to scan in wine and beer for them at the till.

 

Critics, including many Islamic scholars, see the concessions as a step too far, and say Muslims are reneging on their professional responsibilities.

 

This weekend, however, it emerged that Sainsbury’s is also allowing its Muslim pharmacists to refuse to sell the morning-after pill to customers. At a Sainsbury’s store in Nottingham, a pharmacist named Ahmed declined to provide the pill to a female reporter posing as a customer. A colleague explained to her that Ahmed did not sell the pill for “ethical reasons”. Boots also permits pharmacists to refuse to sell the pill on ethical grounds.

 

The BMA said it had received reports of Muslim students who did not want to learn anything about alcohol or the effects of overconsumption. “They are so opposed to the consumption of it they don’t want to learn anything about it,” said a spokesman.

 

The GMC said it had received requests for guidance over whether students could “omit parts of the medical curriculum and yet still be allowed to graduate”. Professor Peter Rubin, chairman of the GMC’s education committee, said: “Examples have included a refusal to see patients who are affected by diseases caused by alcohol or sexual activity, or a refusal to examine patients of a particular gender.”

 

He added that “prejudicing treatment on the grounds of patients’ gender or their responsibility for their condition would run counter to the most basic principles of ethical medical practice”.

 

Shazia Ovaisi, a GP in north London, said one of her male Muslim contemporaries at medical school failed to complete his training because he refused to examine a woman patient as part of his final exams.

 

“He was academically gifted, one of the best students, but gradually he got in with certain Islamic groups and started to become more radical,” said Ovaisi.

 

“You could see there was a change in his personality as time went by. During the final exams he was supposed to treat a female patient in hospital. He refused to do it, even though it would have been a very basic examination, nothing intrusive.

 

“But he refused and as a result he failed his exams. I was quite shocked and disappointed about it because I don’t see there being anything in our religion that prohibits us from examining male and female patients.”

Both the Muslim Council of Britain and Muslim Doctors and Dentist Association said they were aware of students opting out but did not support them.

 

Dr Abdul Majid Katme, of the Islamic Medical Association, said: “To learn about alcohol, to learn about sexually transmitted disease, to learn about abortion, it gives us more evidence to campaign against it. There is a difference between learning and practising.

 

“It is obligatory for Muslim doctors and students to learn about everything. The prophet said, ‘Learn about witchcraft, but don’t practise it’.”

 

source:Sunday Times

Sorry - they chose the degree knowing the content. If they choose to study a medical degree, then they have no right to not turn up to lectures. This is not based on the race - I think it applies to everyone. You can't enter a degree as substantial as medics, and then decide after a year you only want to do the bits that suit you.

If a medical student fails to cover ALL the curriculum for any reason then they cannot be a qualified doctor.

 

This is a situation I hope is being sensationalised :(

Maybe I'm being simplistic, but if you decide you want to become a doctor, you should study all parts of the course and be prepared to treat all patients. If you feel that you're not prepared to do that, then you pursue a different career. End of :)

Lmao. If they want to fail their exams it's their choice :rofl:

 

This is so pathetic.

This is getting beyond ridiculous. So much for an integrated society :)

LOL. Oh well, it'll be THEIR problem when they cant get the job. :rofl:

The world has gone mad I tell you.

I'd just kick them off the course tbh. It's absolutely pathetic, they surely know what they're getting involved in? :wacko:

It's their own fault. Let 'em fail.

don't the NHS fund their course tuition fees too during their training. I know they did at my University on courses like Midwifery and such.

 

If so, the taxpayers money is being poured down the drain because of this -_-

“It is obligatory for Muslim doctors and students to learn about everything. The prophet said, ‘Learn about witchcraft, but don’t practise it’.”

 

According to this quote these people are in violation of a teaching of mohammed and therefore they can't be true muslims, although I am sceptical about the whole story

LOL. Oh well, it'll be THEIR problem when they cant get the job. :rofl:

 

Oh they will, otherwise they'll claim that the employer is racist.

 

I agree with what has been said, if it was any English people we would have been kicked off the course straight away.

 

It does bug me tho, why go into a job like that knowing that you're going to refuse to do something? It's a very important job at the end of the day, and they're taking the p***.

“It is obligatory for Muslim doctors and students to learn about everything. The prophet said, ‘Learn about witchcraft, but don’t practise it’.”

 

According to this quote these people are in violation of a teaching of mohammed and therefore they can't be true muslims, although I am sceptical about the whole story

 

Again, another overly pedantic misreading of their own religion... Like these guys in Sainsburys who refused to sell alcohol....

 

I would however stress that this again is a tiny minority... The Red Crescent (the Islamic version of the red cross) places no such restrictions upon its doctors and nurses to my knowlege....

 

Im not being racist, but we have/had to study about their religion/culture in subjects like R.S./Geography, and even if some people dont like it they still go ahead and learn about it.

 

They just need to tolerate it.

No wonder the Middle East has some of the worst health outcome statistics. The average age of death in Afghanistan according to the CIA website is 44 years old. That's incredibly young.

 

It can only be compounded by these ridiculous attitudes of muslim doctors.

 

Maybe they should be awarded LIMITED medical degrees if they are only willing to do LIMITED medical tests and procedures then??

I really feel sorry for you guys once these guys become doctors in your health system.

Edited October 9, 200717 yr by Naomi Watts

No wonder the Middle East has some of the worst health outcome statistics. The average age of death in Afghanistan according to the CIA website is 44 years old. That's incredibly young.

 

Well, Afghanistan is the FAR East actually, but I'll let that slide.... The average life expectancies being 44 might just have something to do with the whole constant cycles of "war" and sectarian violence as well though, dont you think....??

It can only be compounded by these ridiculous attitudes of muslim doctors.

 

Maybe they should be awarded LIMITED medical degrees if they are only willing to do LIMITED medical tests and procedures then??

I really feel sorry for you guys once these guys become doctors in your health system.

 

But they aren't being allowed to graduate, and it is not muslim doctors as a whole, just a tiny minority