Dr. Farah Roslan an award-winning surgeon-in-training at Northampton General Hospital who recently helped introduce a disposable surgical hijab in collaboration with the Royal Derby Hospital.
Have you ever heard of the term “The Disposable Hijab or Disposable Sterile Headscarves” ?
Maybe, you’ve read about it. To those who haven’t, here’s what you need to know!
Across the globe, Muslim women who choose to wear the hijab have been breaking into various key sectors, from firefighting such as Amber Von Grat, who became known as Canada’s first hijabi firefighter, to the police force such as that of UK where Muslim team members are allowed to wear their headscarves and have even has special, loose fitting uniforms made for them.
This has been no different in the healthcare sector, and now one Muslim woman has created a way for female healthcare professionals to continue doing their work comfortably while putting their patient’s safety first.
I’m really happy and looking forward to seeing if we can endorse this nationally.
Dr. Farah Roslan
Doctor Farah Roslan, a junior doctor who works in Lincolnshire, United Kingdom, has introduced disposable sterile headscarves for hospital staff to use in operating theatres. According to BBC.com, Dr. Farah Roslan had the idea while she was a medical student with University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Trust following infection concerns related to her hijab.
About a week ago, we read about it in an article and we were very much wowed by it! It all started with the efforts and experiences faced by a very young Malaysian doctor. She is known as Dr Farah Shaheera Roslan.
Being a doctor who is a hijabi, there will always be that slight anxious feeling when you’re in the same room with other medical professionals who are non-hijabis. The anxiety can easily come from thinking about whether your hijab suits the sanitary standard, or if you’d have to replace your hijab with something uncomfortable. As a doctor who is mainly in the Accidents and Emergency Department, being scrubbed into operation theatres for observations is quite common.
She said: ‘I’d been using the same headscarf all day which obviously wasn’t clean or ideal.
‘I didn’t feel comfortable taking it off and I was pulled out of the theatre, respectfully, due to infection control. ‘A middle ground had to be found between dress code due to faith and the passion of being in the operating theatre. ‘I am so happy my vision has become a reality and that these headscarves are now available for all of the staff.
She has had experiences where she was told to change to a proper orthopaedic hood, which on occasion kept her focus away from what’s happening in front of her, to what’s on her head and how uncomfortable she feels. Farah did a lot of research and discovered that many women wearing headscarves experienced problems in operating theatres. Mainly on an emotional level where they either felt embarrassed or anxious. Imagine walking into work every single day feeling glum
So, she decided that something has to be done. It all began with meeting a consultant microbiologist with a special interest in dress code policy and infection control. She gained insights that lead her to speak to other sources as well. She stepped up and spoke to representatives from the British Islamic Medical Association to discuss on what has been done to overcome this problem in within the community. She was assisted and helped by many professionals around her which led her to discovering suppliers from all over the world to help her out.
Once a design was decided on, she showed a picture of her in her latest innovation to her supervisor and they were happy enough to approve it. A week after, the deputy general manager theatre lead of UHDB emailed her personally to inform her, that they have ordered their first-ever batch of the disposable hijab to be supplied to all their theatres in within their trust.
We are so proud of you Dr Farah! Your effort and hard work will be cherished and very much appreciated by those who need these in the medical industry, now and the many years to come!
Courtesy: Modestrove | Islam Channel
