Thank you for visiting my blog and reading my reflections. In an era where demanding attention has instant monetary reward, my reward would be a lasting connection and an enduring conversation.
Hi there. My name is Homam Albaghdadi (who-mam il-bugh-dadi). I know it is hard to pronounce. Especially when it is phonetically different from the way it is written. Don’t blame me, it’s a linguistic limitation. My high school English teacher managed to call me Holman for 2 years. My patients call me Dr Alba.
I am a passionate general and hospital dentist who has come to be enamored with the field of health professions education research. I find it fascinating. Perhaps because it engages me at a deeper philosophical level. And perhaps it stems from my interest in psychology and sociology.
I come from a basic science, and immunology backgrounds. I have spent 14+ years in academia between undergraduate and graduate education, research, and professional training. I would not have it any other way. Every stage was a building block toward my aspiration to become a clinician scientist. It requires a lot of introspection, retrospection, and even “outro”spection, so to speak. And I would be remiss if I did not recognize my “support system”; My family, friends and mentors who continually challenge me and test my strengths and vulnerabilities.
When I reflect on what my academic philosophy might look or sound like, I recognize that I cannot treat it as a static entity, but rather a dynamic, evolving process. I am attracted to the social constructivist philosophy, believe in the co-construction of knowledge and often think about how contextual elements might impact one’s practice, whether it is in my own practice or how it manifest in the training of clinicians. I like to think that I would adopt an eclectic method of teaching, drawing inspiration from different fields of study (Arts, Engineering, Business etc). I fundamentally believe teaching should be a conversation instead of a monologue, evidence-based instead of pseudoscience, while at the same time recognizing the relevance of those “traditional”, time-enduring modalities. To this end, I am drawn to the construct of reflexivity in which, as Bourdieu framed it, one is to take two steps back from the process (i.e. teaching, research), one to objectively evaluate it, and the other to reflect on that very observation. Therefore, my goal is to be aware of own impact on the process and for that to guide my own evolution and what I aspire to change in my context.
If you think this is romanticism, you would be giving me too much credit.