Discussions

Your Name and Title: Dr. Md. Anwarul Azim Majumder

School, Library, or Organization Name: Department of Clinical Sciences, School of Medical Sciences, University of Bradford, UK.

Co-Presenter Name(s): Dr. Sayeeda Rahman

Country from Which You Will Present: UK

Language in Which You Will Present: English

Target Audience (such as primary school teachers, high school administrators, students, etc.):  Health professionals, policy makers, teachers, parents, students etc.

Short Session Description (one line):

Full Session Description (one paragraph minimum):

Learning disabilities represent the largest group of disabilities in higher education institutes, including medical schools and other health professional institutes.  The numbers are continuing to rise. The worrying concern is that two-thirds to half of these students with learning disabilities remain undiagnosed when they start their undergraduate education and may even graduate without having their disabilities diagnosed. These students struggle with their academic abilities, receive poor grades and, as a result, develop lower perceptions of their intellectual abilities than do those students without learning disabilities. All these ultimately hamper their professional practice, employment, and career progression. Appropriate and adequate educational policies, provisions, and practices help students to progress satisfactorily. In Asian countries, public and professional awareness about learning disabilities is low, supportive provisions are limited, legislations are inadequate, data are scarce, and equal-opportunity/widening-participation policies are not implemented effectively in the HE sector. This presentation will discuss the issues related to learning disabilities in health professional education and draws policy, provision, and practices from developed countries to identify, assess, and support students with learning disabilities, particularly in an Asian context.

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