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Dr Khalid Okkeh has been using BMJ Best Practice as part of the Clinical Decision Support Training Initiative. He tells us how using the resources has helped improve his practice.

 

About Dr Khalid Okkeh

Dr Khalid Okkeh is an internal medicine doctor specialising in infectious. His deals daily with differential diagnosis, practising evidence based medicine and working with comorbidities. Based at the Centre for Thoracic Diseases and the Health of Expatriates in Jordan, he is the Assistant Manager at the Centre. Previously, he worked at Prince Hussein Hospital for 10 years.

His desire to ease the pain and suffering of people and make their lives better, led him to pursue a career in medicine. He praised the quality of healthcare in Jordan stating that it is a great place for doctors around the world to work.

“There are many diseases I am not familiar with as they are not common in Jordan, however I have been able to identify and report various infectious diseases with the help of BMJ Best Practice.”
Dr Khalid Okkeh, Internal Medicine doctor specialising in Infectious Diseases

Using BMJ Best Practice as a team

I use BMJ Best Practice daily, usually on an hourly basis. For me, accessing the BMJ Best Practice app on my phone is easy and allows me to access it from home and work. My colleagues also use BMJ Best Practice and we use the resources as a team when we are unsure of the patient’s diagnosis. I mainly access the sections on investigation and management to confirm if what I am doing is correct. I like the investigation sections as they provide practical step-by-step scenario-based guidance which allows me to work in real time with my patient.

“Because I am at the Centre for Thoracic Diseases, I am regularly looking at the management section for tuberculosis. It helps me when I am faced with complex situations, for example, when patients have TB and they are pregnant, have an HIV infection or have chronic renal failure. Brucellosis is a big problem in Jordan. Treatment of many patients is straightforward but occasionally you see patients with a complex disease.”

For example I have seen patients who did not respond to treatment and who then developed complications – such as seizures. Often failure to respond to treatment is a sign that the patient is not taking antibiotics correctly. In circumstances like this, I look up BMJ Best Practice to find out about patients with undertreated brucellosis.

“BMJ Best Practice has a range of treatment protocols for different types of patients – so it is a matter of putting these protocols into practice. The end result is then usually an improved patient, a grateful family and a happy moment for the healthcare team.”

Helping to identify unknown infectious diseases

I think this resource is useful to help quickly identify unknown infectious diseases we are not used to seeing in Jordan. At this centre, we do medical tests for workers from abroad. Sometimes through these mandatory examinations, we identify patients with tuberculosis and other infectious diseases.

There are many diseases I am not familiar with as they are not common in Jordan, however I have been able to identify and report various infectious diseases with the help of BMJ Best Practice.

Using BMJ Best Practice to find answers to clinical questions

It is a mandatory requirement for medical students to spend two weeks during their public health course at the centre. They learn about TB and various other infectious diseases.

I am usually responsible for their orientation and use BMJ Best Practice to help with my teaching. I pose clinical questions to the class and encourage them to use BMJ Best Practice to find answers to these questions.

Learn more

BMJ CLINICAL DECISION SUPPORT TRAINING INITIATIVE

To find out more or share your own success stories, contact

Lalitha Bhagavatheeswaran
Programme Manager, BMJ Global Health Initiatives