Sustainable Health Workforce, Medical Education and Emiratisation Council kicks off its first meeting

The first meeting took place with the participation of representatives from the Department of Education and Knowledge (ADEK), Human Resources Authority (HRA), Mubadala Company, Abu Dhabi Healthcare Services Company (SEHA), Ministry of Education (MOE), Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT), Fatima Colleges of Health Sciences (FCHS), Khalifa University (KU), United Arab Emirates University (UAEU), as well as female and male students enrolled in medical and healthcare programmes in UAEU, paving their way to become the UAE’ prospective doctors and nurses.

During his keynote speech, H.E. Dr. Jamal Mohammed Alkaabi, Undersecretary of the Department of Health Abu Dhabi underscored that the sustainability of the healthcare workforce remains at the forefront of DoH’s priorities and that human capital is the key foundation of the healthcare quality and efficiency. His Excellency also highlighted the importance of carrying out more initiatives to promote medical education and health training and encourage local talents and the younger generation to pursue opportunities in the healthcare sector.

The meeting kicked off with underscoring the council’s goals, visions and strategic programmes, then moved on to discussions on successful methods used to align government strategies related to health workforce, medical education and Emiratisation, through displaying statistics and current data which will determine the future needs of the healthcare sector. The council also aims to further enhance the efficiency of the human capital in the healthcare sector and improve the learning and training environment, as well as setting a mechanism to fill the gaps in healthcare specialties in Abu Dhabi.
According to DoH statistics, females account for 75% of the total Emirati workforce in Abu Dhabi’s healthcare sector, and 94% of the total health professionals in the government healthcare sector in Abu Dhabi are Emiratis.