Her thesis, titled *Development of a Problem and AttRibutes bAsed DIabetes self-manaGeMent (PARADIGM) intervention, critically evaluated the structure of existing diabetes self-management interventions and their impact on different levels of outcomes such as knowledge, physical activity, glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c), and quality of life.
Othman’s PhD project was supervised by Prof Suhail Doi and co-supervised by Dr Suhad Daher-Nashif and Dr Tanya Kane (Population Medicine Department, QU Health, College of Medicine, Qatar University), Prof Abdel Badie Abu Samra (HMC), and Dr Luis Furuya Kanamori (Queensland University, Australia).
The QU Health PhD programme provides students with a broad foundation of biomedical, clinical, and pharmacy-related interdisciplinary training, followed by intensive training in advanced aspects of medical sciences, research philosophy, and modern techniques.
The duration of the curriculum is four years with a total of 60 credit hours (CH) in the programme of study.
This is in line with numerous PhD programmes of highly reputable regional and international institutions.
The curriculum incorporates formal lectures, group projects, research presentations, journal clubs, and writing review articles, to develop the students’ ability for critical thinking, intensive scientific writing, and problem-solving skills through research.
Othman said: “I am very proud to have received a distinguished academic degree, and for being the first Qatari to obtain this degree from a doctoral programme in medical sciences from Qatar University, and the first to graduate from a doctoral programme for the College of Medicine.”
“I dedicate my success and distinction to His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, His Highness the Father Amir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, and Her Highness Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser, who were keen to provide the best and highest academic degrees at the national university,” she continued. “Otherwise, I would not have been able to complete my academic career while I am a mother of six children.”
"I would like to thank the teaching staff at the College of Medicine and the administrative staff, headed by Dr Suhail Doi my supervisor, for his continuous guidance,” Othman added. “I would also like to dedicate this distinction to my parents, family, and husband for their constant support during my studies.”
"Through the PhD research project, I was able to lay new scientific foundations for the development of a training programme for self-care for people with diabetes to enable them to coexist with diabetes,” she said. “I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to the Health Care Administration and the Research Department for facilitating obtaining approval to conduct research in health centres.”