Arab Board Community Medicine Part 1 study guide
Arab Board Community Medicine Part 1 · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The Arab Board of Community Medicine Part 1 is the first stage of the specialty certification pathway for physicians training in community medicine, public health, and preventive medicine in the Arab region. It is aimed at residents and public health physicians who have completed the foundational portion of their training and are ready to demonstrate broad theoretical competence before progressing to advanced and practical assessments. The Arab Board Community Medicine Part 1 study guide has 9 sections and about 2,064 words.
01Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Master measures of disease frequency (incidence, cumulative incidence, prevalence and their interrelationships), measures of association (risk ratio, odds ratio, rate ratio, attributable risk), and study designs (cohort, case-control, cross-sectional, RCT, ecologic). Understand validity: random and systematic error, selection/information/confounding bias, effect modification, and the criteria for causal inference.
302 words, about 2 min02Public Health and Preventive Medicine
Understand the natural history of disease and levels of prevention: primordial, primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary. Know the public health functions (assessment, policy development, assurance) and core functions of screening programmes (Wilson–Jungner criteria).
211 words, about 1 min03Health Services Administration and Management
Know health system building blocks (service delivery, workforce, information, medicines, financing, leadership/governance) and the WHO framework for health system goals (access, quality, equity, efficiency, responsiveness). Understand financing models (tax-based, social insurance, private insurance, out-of-pocket), provider payment methods (fee-for-service, capitation, DRG, salary) and their incentive effects.
208 words, about 1 min04Environmental and Occupational Health
Understand exposure pathways (air, water, soil, food), dose-response, and risk assessment steps (hazard identification, dose-response, exposure assessment, risk characterisation). Know air pollutants (PM2.5, ozone, SO2, NO2), water quality and sanitation, food safety, and waste management.
215 words, about 1 min05Maternal and Child Health
Know the continuum of care from pre-pregnancy through childhood: antenatal care, skilled birth attendance, emergency obstetric care, postnatal care, immunisation, growth monitoring, and integrated management of childhood illness. Understand maternal mortality ratio and its causes (haemorrhage, hypertension, sepsis, obstructed labour, unsafe abortion), and under-5 mortality causes (neonatal conditions, pneumonia, diarrhoea, malaria).
239 words, about 1 min06Communicable Disease Control
Understand the epidemiologic triad (agent, host, environment), modes of transmission (direct, droplet, airborne, vector-borne, vehicle-borne), and the chain of infection. Master R0, epidemic curves (common-source vs propagated), and outbreak investigation.
231 words, about 1 min07Non-Communicable Diseases and Health Promotion
Understand the leading NCDs (cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease) and shared modifiable risk factors (tobacco, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, harmful alcohol use). Know the WHO 'best buys' and the Ottawa Charter for health promotion (healthy public policy, supportive environments, community action, personal skills, reorienting services).
243 words, about 1 min08Nutrition and Food Safety
Know macronutrients and micronutrients, energy balance, and the consequences of deficiency (iron, iodine, vitamin A, vitamin D, folate) and excess (obesity, diabetes). Understand nutritional assessment (anthropometry, biochemical, clinical, dietary), growth standards, and the double burden of malnutrition.
212 words, about 1 min09Health Informatics and Research Methods
Understand the research cycle: question, literature, design, sampling, data collection, analysis, interpretation, dissemination. Master study designs, sampling methods (probability vs non-probability), validity and reliability, and ethical principles (respect for persons, beneficence, justice; informed consent; ethics review).
203 words, about 1 min