Biography

Prof. Kassab is Professor of Physiology and Medical Education and serves as Associate Dean for Academics at the College of Medicine, Dubai Medical University. He also holds a professorship at the Faculty of Medicine, Suez Canal University, Egypt. Over his distinguished career, he has held several senior academic leadership roles, including Acting Dean of the College of Medicine at Gulf Medical University (2025), Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at Qatar University (2017–2020), Vice Dean for Academic Affairs at the Arabian Gulf University (2005–2009, 2010–2013), and Chairman of the Department of Medical Education at Suez Canal University (2013–2016). He also served as Professor of Physiology at RCSI–Medical University of Bahrain.

A Fellow of the Academy of Medical Educators, Prof. Kassab serves on the Executive Committee of the Association of Medical Education in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (AMEEMR), affiliated with the World Federation for Medical Education (WFME), and has worked as a WHO consultant in medical education and accreditation. He sits on the editorial boards of leading journals, including BMC Medical Education and Health Professions Education. Widely recognized for his scholarly contributions, he has delivered numerous workshops and published over 85 peer-reviewed papers in physiology and medical education.

Education

• PhD in Physiology – joint program between the University of Mississippi, USA and Suez Canal University, Egypt (1995)
• PhD degree in Health Professions Education – Erasmus University Rotterdam, Netherlands (2023)

Research Interests

• Medical Education: Psychometrics, Student engagement, PBL
• Medical Physiology: Endothelium-derived factors, Obesity-related hypertension, Pregnancy-Induced hypertension, Homocysteine, and cardiovascular diseases.

Research Publications

• Kassab S, Bidmos M, Nomikos M, Daher-Nashif S, Kane T, Sarangi S, Abu-Hijleh M. Construct validity of an instrument for assessment of reflective writing-based portfolios of medical students. Adv Med Educ Pract; 11 397–404, 2020.
• Kassab S, Bidmos M, Nomikos M, Daher-Nashif S, Kane T, Sarangi S, Abu-Hijleh M. Medical Students’ Perspectives on an Assessment of Reflective Portfolios [Response to Letter]. Adv Med Educ Pract; 11 1–2, 2020.
• Enas Gouda, Kassab SE, Rabab Abdel Raoof Abed, Somaya Hosny. Assessing Students’ Well-being in Primary Health Care Setting as a Clinical Learning Environment. Asian Journal of Education and Social Studies. 10(3): 14-27, 2020.
• Al-Yousuf N, Kassab SE, Alsetri H, Hamdy H. Psychometric Properties of Visual Indicators of Teaching and Learning Success "VITALS" Instrument for Evaluation of Clinical Teachers. Adv Med Educ Pract. 2021 Aug 16; 12:905-911. doi: 10.2147/AMEP.S318798.
• Jaam M, Nazar Z, Rainkie DC, Hassan DA, Hussain FN, Kassab SE, Agouni A. Using Assessment Design Decision Framework in understanding the impact of Rapid Transition to Online-learning on Student Assessment in Health-related Colleges: A Qualitative Study. PLOS ONE. 2021.16(7): e0254444. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0254444
• Kassab SE, El-Sayed W, Hamdy H. Student engagement in undergraduate medical education: A scoping review. Med Educ. 2022 Jul;56(7):703-715. doi: 10.1111/medu.14799.
• Malay J, Kassab SE, Merghani TH, Rathan R, Sreejith A. Faculty and Students’ Perceptions About Online Teaching Styles of Faculty in Large Group Lectures. Adv Med Educ Pract. 2022 Oct 6; 13:1261-1266. doi: 10.2147/AMEP.S377351.
• Rathan R, Hamdy H, Kassab SE, Salama MNF, Sreejith A, Gopakumar A. Implications of introducing case based radiological images in anatomy on teaching, learning and assessment of medical students: a mixed-methods study. BMC Med Educ. 2022 Oct 14;22(1):723. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-022-03784-y .
• Al-Sharbatti S, Hamdy H, Kassab SE, Venkatramana M. The effect of access to electronic resources during examination on medical and dental students’ scores in summative assessment: quasi experimental study. BMC Med Educ, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-022-03904-8 .
• Du X, Ibiapina CDC, Kassab SE, Yan A. Good advice from authors working in under-represented countries. Med Educ. 2022; 1-3. DOI: 10.1111/medu.14984.
• Kassab SE, Taylor D, Hamdy H. Student engagement in health professions education: AMEE Guide No. 152. Med Teach. 2023 Sep;45(9):949-965. https://doi.org/10.1080/0142159X.2022.2137018 .
• Kassab SE, Al-Eraky M, El-Sayed W, Hamdy H, Schmidt H. Measurement of student engagement in health professions education: A review of literature. BMC Med Educ. 23: 354, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-023-04344-8 .
• Kassab SE, El-Baz A, Hassan N, Hamdy H, Mamede S, Schmidt H. Construct validity of a questionnaire for measuring student engagement in problem-based learning tutorials. BMC Med Educ. 23: 844, 2023.
• Kassab SE, Hamdy H, Mamede S, Schmidt H. Influence of tutors and group process on medical student engagement in problem-based learning tutorials. Med Educ. 2024;1–9. DOI: 10.1111/medu.15387
• Kassab, S. (2023). Student engagement in health professions education: Application to small-group problem-based learning tutorials. [Doctoral Thesis, Erasmus University Rotterdam]. https://pure.eur.nl/en/publications/student-engagement-in-health-professions-education-application-to .
• Malay J, Rangraze IR, Merghani TK, Kassab SE. Description of Medical Students’ Behavioral, Cognitive, and Psychological Engagement with Faculty Online Teaching Styles. Adv Med Educ Pract. 2024: 15 121–132. https://doi.org/10.2147/AMEP.S448779 .
• Kassab SE, Rathan R, Schmidt HG, Hamdy H. Measuring sociocultural engagement of health professions education students: A psychometric study. BMC Med Educ, (2024) 24:567. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-024-05566-0.
• Kassab SE, Rathan R, Taylor, DCM, Hamdy H. Impact of the educational environment on student engagement and academic performance in health professions education. BMC Med Educ 24, 1278 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-024-06270-9
• Kassab SE, Rathan R, Schmidt HG, Hamdy H. Influence of university campus environment, sociocultural engagement, and satisfaction of health professions education students: role of the sense of belonging. BMC Med Educ 24, 1512 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-024-06534-4.
• Abu-Hijleh M, Kassab SE, Allouch S, Ali RM, Al-Wattary N, Nomikos M, Salem AH, Shehata MH, Sequeira RP. Psychometric properties of a questionnaire assessing the extent of integration in a problem-based learning curriculum. BMC Med Educ 25, 561 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-025-07165-z
• Kassab SE, Rathan R & Hamdy H. Effects of technology-enhanced learning on student engagement in basic medical education: A systematic review. Med Sci Educ. (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40670-025-02442-4
• Kassab SE, Rathan R, Taylor, DCM, Hamouri S, Hamdy H. Understanding how medical students learn in the era of artificial intelligence: A mixed methods study. BMC Med Educ (2025).
• Aldahmani K, Sreedharan J, Kassab SE. Factors influencing interns selection of postgraduate residency programs in the United Arab Emirates. Cureus (2025), 17(10): e95161, Doi: 10.7759/Cureus.
• Suliman S, Kassab SE, Iqbal MZ, Al-Bualy R, Asoodar M, Susilo AP, de Mortier CA, Boussé M, Hancock NJ, Mathew T, Sriranga J, Könings KD. The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Co-Creation of Health Professions Education: Integrating Innovation into Collaboration – AMEE Guide No. 190. Medical Teacher 2025. https://doi.org/10.1080/0142159X.2025.2581163.
• Rathan R, Kassab SE, Schmidt H, Nederhand M, Woltman A. Teacher Engagement in Health Professions Education: A Scoping Review. BMC Med Educ (Submitted).