Abu Dhabi Health Services Company PJSC (SEHA), in a sweeping and bold move to keep pace with current and future requirements of the health system in Abu Dhabi, has taken new steps to redesign its teaching and training programs for recently graduated doctors in UAE. The initiative is in line with one of SEHA’s most important strategic objectives: to build a solid foundation for research and education within the SEHA HealthSystem by raising the quality of training programs and increasing the number of graduates that would be able to meet the medical demands of populations in UAE.
In pursuit of this goal, SEHA recently welcomed in a weeklong visit Professor Thomas Blackwell, the former Chair of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Residency Review Committee, to initiate the process toward ACGME accreditation. All SEHA’s teaching hospitals and residency programs will seek international accreditation from the ACGME, which is an independent non-profit organization that sets the standards and requirements for training in all specialties in the US, responsible for accreditation of programs and their sponsoring institutions. Blackwell’s most recent visit is the first of a series of visits over several years aimed at supporting SEHA’s residency programs to meet the foundational and advanced requirements by the ACGME.
“Dr. Blackwell’s visit comes within the context of our intention and plan to redesign SEHA’s training programs to provide future physicians with the necessary knowledge, skills, and attitudes to meet the challenges of a mounting body of medical knowledge and a rapidly growing system of health care delivery,” says Dr. Ali Abdulkareem Al Obaidli, Chief Clinical Officer of SEHA’s Clinical Affairs Department. “Bringing in such a system will meet the aspirations of our Medical Graduates who wish to train in the US model without having to go to the US.”
As part of his trip, Professor Blackwell visited all SEHA training hospitals including those at Sheikh Khalifa Medical City, Al Mafraq Hospital and Tawam/Al Ain Hospitals in Al Ain. He also met various stakeholders of graduate medical education in the country, including HAAD and UAE Medical School in Al Ain. The Dean of UAE Medical School said that his institution fully supports SEHA’s vision towards ACGME accreditation as there is a consistent trend towards more structured and formative training internationally.
“To prepare for our future ageing population and the increased load of chronic diseases, it has become more and more clear that we need to ramp up the expertise of our future generation of doctors,” comments Mr. Mohamed Al Hameli, Chief Officer of SEHA’s Corporate Support Services Division. “So far, the focus has been on recruitment measures and opening of more medical schools. It is timely to review our postgraduate medical education as well. This program involves a long-term advancement of training opportunities in UAE, further advancing our resident physicians’ education through exemplary accreditation.”
ACGME is a private, non-profit council that evaluates and accredits medical residency programmes through a peer-review process based upon established standards and guidelines. Among ACGME’s member organizations are the American Board of Medical Specialties, American Hospital Association, and the American Medical Association, among others.
