The Department of Health – Abu Dhabi admits 433 medical graduates into its Medical Education Programmes

21 Jul, 2022:

The Department of Health – Abu Dhabi (DoH), the regulator of the healthcare sector in the emirate, admitted 433 graduates to medical, dental and pharmacy residency and fellowship programmes as part of the department's Medical Education Programme. The largest batch of participants saw an estimated increase of 28% compared to the previous year, bringing the number of current trainees in the programmes to 767 participants. DoH developed a distinct system for its programmes, which includes new registration conditions that guarantee the availability of training opportunities for UAE national applicants, graduates residing in the UAE, and graduates from universities outside the country. Out of the 237 residency and fellowship seats open for the year, 125 Emirati doctors and 109 doctors belongs to more than 28 nationalities were admitted.

The Department has witnessed a remarkable participation in its Distinction in Medical Internship Programme from both the private and public sectors in the emirate. The Programme received 196 trainees this year compared to 126 trainees last year, recording an increase of 34%. The Medical Internship Programme was joined by additional healthcare facilities in Abu Dhabi including Danat Al Emarat Hospital, VPS Healthcare, Mediclinic Middle East, and NMC Healthcare which provided training opportunities that meet the needs of the healthcare sector in Abu Dhabi. 

Dr. Rashid Obaid Al Suwaidi, Executive Director of the Healthcare Workforce Sector at the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi (DoH) said: ‘The Department of Health Abu Dhabi continues its efforts to attract more national and international human capabilities to the healthcare sector by providing educational and training programmes in accordance with international best practices. The distinguished competencies and expertise, in addition to the emirate's advanced infrastructure and agile healthcare system, contribute to achieving DoH’s goals to consolidate Abu Dhabi's position as a leading destination for healthcare globally.”

Al Suwaidi added: “We are keen to continue cooperating and working alongside healthcare facilities in public and private sectors in the emirate to ensure and facilitate community access to care services in various specialties. We recently added new specialisations including Community Medicine, Emergency Medicine - Paediatrics, Rheumatology - Paediatrics, and Infectious Diseases to the programme at Sheikh Shakhbout Medical City Hospital, Tawam Hospital and the outpatient clinics of Abu Dhabi Health Services Company – SEHA, while the Pediatrics Programme and the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Programme have been accredited at Danat Al Emarat Hospital.”

This year, DoH’s programmes has expanded to offer 32 medical specialties in eight accredited institutions for advanced training compared to just 28 last year. The specialties include general surgery, internal medicine, family medicine, emergency medicine, anaesthesiology, ophthalmology, otolaryngology, paediatrics, obstetrics and gynaecology, psychiatry, dermatology, urology and radiology. As well as a number of fellowships subspecialities including oncology, rheumatology, hematology, neonatology, cardiology, nephrology and gastroenterology. In addition to specialities in dentistry such as paediatric dentistry, orthodontics and prosthodontics. 

As part of the Clinical Pharmacy Residency Programme, a total of ten training opportunities were provided to Sheikh Shakhboot Medical City, Sheikh Khalifa Medical City, Tawam Hospital and Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi. 

In 2010, DoH launched its Medical Education Programme in an effort empower healthcare professionals to pursue further education on specialities through providing them with training opportunities in accordance with the international best standards. Training opportunities are accredited by The Arab Board of Health Specialisation, Jordan Medical Council and the National Institute for Health Specialities (Emirati Board). The programmes have witnessed the participation of over 1771 trainees till date.  

For more information on DoH’s Medical Education Programmes, please visit: www.doh.gov.ae