Young Physician Receives Accolades for Impacting Patient Lives in the Middle East

Wednesday, January 28, 2015, Dubai, UAE: In keeping with its continuous support of the Middle East medical community, Cleveland Clinic presented the fourth annual Young Clinician of the Year Award during the Arab Health Achievement and Innovation Awards.

This year's winner of the Cleveland Clinic's Young Clinician of the Year Award is Dr. Dima Abdelmannan, a consultant endocrinologist at Dubai Diabetes Center, Dubai Health Authority, and Associate Clinical Dean at Dubai Medical College. Dr. Abdelmannan holds dual board degrees in internal medicine and endocrinology from both US and UK.

The award was presented last night at the 2015 Arab Health Achievement and Innovation Awards held at the Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Center, Dubai, UAE.

The Young Clinician of the Year Award is given to a physician under the age of 40 who has made a positive impact on patients' lives in the Middle East.  Physicians are nominated by an institution or their peers. The nominations were reviewed by a judging panel, chaired by William Carey, M.D., Director of the Center for Continuing Education at Cleveland Clinic, Ohio, USA. The selection criteria includes: evident medical acumen and leadership; dedication to excellence and quality care; demonstration of empathy and compassion in all aspects of care; commitment to continuing medical education, and engagement in research.

"For the fourth year, Cleveland Clinic is honoring a young physician who displays not only leadership and commitment, but also compassion for patients," said Dr. Carey. "As a part of the Arab Health Awards, we will continue to honor health care's future leaders in the Middle East annually. This year there were 11 high quality applications for this award from five countries including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, and Egypt. The task of the committee to select one best from such a talent pool was never more difficult. It is gratifying to see so many young people achieving professional excellence."

As this year's winner, Dr. Dima Abdelmannen will receive the opportunity to observe clinical operations at Cleveland Clinic's main campus in the U.S. for one week, hosted and sponsored by the Cleveland Clinic's Center for International Medical Education in collaboration with Informa, the organizer of the Arab Health Congress. 

"Our goal is to reward excellence and to add value to healthcare reform that the Middle East region is witnessing. Our presence in the Arab Health Congress helps achieve that," said Robert Stall, Executive Director of International Operations at Cleveland Clinic. "Cleveland Clinic is committed to the growth and development of healthcare's future leaders worldwide and is consistently willing to engage in such initiatives in the region."

According to the judging panel of the award, "Dr. Dima Abdelmannan has a solid record at a young age. We not only received feedback from her peers and her organization, but also from one of her patients. She stands out in a very competitive group of applicants for this award. Dr. Abdelmannan has been educated in Dubai, Cleveland, and Boston. Evidence of acumen and leadership abounds as she has served for four years as Assistant Chief of Endocrinology at a major US medical school, and for the past year served as Vice Dean of the Dubai Medical College. She has demonstrated extraordinary success in improving quality of care through evidence-based research and incorporated rapid changes in the structure and delivery of services. She works closely with patients in helping them make informed decisions in their treatment which all falls under patient-centered care. As a one of few female endocrinologists, she helped many women suffering from gestational diabetes during their pregnancy journey with compassion. She developed different educational programs for patients. Commitment to medical education has been a constant theme throughout her career. She has widely published in peer reviewed medical journals. She has played a vital role in raising the awareness of the community, and promoting health in UAE. Her energy, initiative and dedication to improving the quality of care makes her an ideal recipient of the Cleveland Clinic Young Clinician Award."

The Arab Health Achievement and Innovation Awards are held annually and recognize the outstanding achievements of individuals, hospitals, departments, and teams that have contributed to the growth and development of the Arab Health industry.  The Arab Health Achievement and Innovation Awards were developed by Informa Life Sciences Exhibitions to reward industry leaders and innovators in a variety of industry categories.

About Cleveland Clinic
Cleveland Clinic is a nonprofit multispecialty academic medical center that integrates clinical and hospital care with research and education. Located in Cleveland, Ohio, it was founded in 1921 by four renowned physicians with a vision of providing outstanding patient care based upon the principles of cooperation, compassion and innovation. Cleveland Clinic has pioneered many medical breakthroughs, including coronary artery bypass surgery and the first face transplant in the United States. U.S.News & World Report consistently names Cleveland Clinic as one of the nation's best hospitals in its annual "America's Best Hospitals" survey. More than 3,000 full-time salaried physicians and researchers and 11,000 nurses represent 120 medical specialties and subspecialties. The Cleveland Clinic health system includes a main campus near downtown Cleveland, eight community hospitals, more than 75 Northern Ohio outpatient locations, including 16 full-service Family Health Centers, Cleveland Clinic Florida, the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas, Cleveland Clinic Canada, and, scheduled to begin seeing patients in 2015, Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi. Cleveland Clinic also manages Abu Dhabi's tertiary hospital, Sheikh Khalifa Medical City, since 2007. In 2012, there were 5.1 million outpatient visits throughout the Cleveland Clinic health system and 157,000 hospital admissions. Patients came for treatment from every state and from more than 130 countries. Visit us at www.clevelandclinic.org.  Follow us at www.twitter.com/ClevelandClinic.

About Dubai Medical College :
Dubai Medical College is the first Medical College in the United Arab Emirates. Today, it has over a 1000 graduates who are practicing both in the UAE as well as abroad. Graduates from the College hold prominent positions in well-established institutions in the UAE and abroad.

© Press Release 2015