Abu Dhabi Health Services invests in training future doctors

ABU DHABI- Abu Dhabi Health Services Company, SEHA, the largest healthcare network in the UAE, has accepted 158 candidates for the 2019-2020 residency and fellowship programmes that include 23 residency programmes and 9 fellowship sub-programmes in 20 specialisations, held to the highest international standards.

The programmes are held in 6 teaching facilities that offer specialisations including but not limited to Anesthesiology, Dermatology, Emergency, Family medicine, General Surgery, Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, Gynecology, Obstetrics and Cardiology.

Dr. Ali Al Obaidli Chief Academic Affairs officer at SEHA said: "We are keen to develop the healthcare sector in Abu Dhabi in accordance with the objectives set by our government. Our technologies, and medical infrastructure are reaching world-class with significant investment, which provides excellent academic environments as there is great synergy between academic and health care quality. Graduate Physicians enrolled in these programmes spend four to five years in training with an additional year dedicated to study for the board exams intended for their specialisation.

This month, 124 doctors, including 84 Emiratis, will complete the additional year and graduate as specialists. Graduates are classified as per their career aspirations into three classifications -- those planning to join their specialty workforce; those wishing to do an additional subspecialty either into fellowship available at SEHA or through scholarship into top academic medical centers abroad, and those who completed their medical training and they consider other professional career goals like (Medical Research, health care quality and different health administrative fields.)

Given the increasing number of graduates and increased application competitiveness, SEHA has developed a new criteria for those graduates wishing to join academic faculty, in addition to practice their specialties while others join SEHA community hospitals or join workforce outside SEHA network across UAE. So far, SEHA has trained over 660 physicians with graduate numbers gradually increasing. The number of medical students enrolled are projected to increase significantly with the opening of the College of Medicine at Khalifa University. This year, an unprecedented number of 134 Emirati doctor are enrolled to start their medical internship programme in September 1st.