ASPIRING pediatricians from across the GCC can now pursue their medical training in the UAE at Al Jalila Children’s, the only children’s hospital in the country, as part of the speciality hospital’s newly added Pediatric Residency Program.

The only pediatric residency program to be accredited by the Saudi Board in the UAE, the four-year program will run in academic partnership with the Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences (MBRU), Dubai Healthcare City Authority’s first medical university, offering students the opportunity to train under well-known pediatricians from around the world across a wide spectrum of pediatric subspecialties.

Throughout the four years of training, emphasis will be placed on the enhancement of residents’ competence in the medical interview and physical examination, and on communication and interpersonal skills. Residents will have a progressive educational experience with increasing patient care responsibility and supervisory responsibilities involving both inpatient and outpatient experiences. Preventive health care, ethical issues, and discussions of the cost and benefits of diagnostic tests, procedures, and therapies will be an integral part of the residency training throughout the duration of the program.

Dr. Mohamad Alawadhi, Chief Operating Officer of Al Jalila Children’s, said the “launch of the residency program was in line with the objectives of the establishment of the hospital as a center for learning, research, and clinical excellence. Al Jalila Children’s is a state-of-the-art facility and we are confident that through the academic partnership with MBRU and the involvement of the Saudi Board, our residency program will be a training initiative that every aspiring physician would want to be a part of. Besides having access to vast learning and academic resources, successful applicants will train alongside pediatricians who are well-known in their respective fields and have years of experience from some of the world’s best children’s hospitals.”

Dr. Amer Sharif, MBRU’s Vice Chancellor, said “our mission is to advance health in the region through an innovative and integrated academic health system, the Al Jalila Children’s Padiatric Residency Program in affiliation with MBRU is an example of this integrated approach. AJCH are our affiliates, and we work closely together on a number of joined projects in medical education and research. Through this residency program, we will be able to strengthen the journey of medical students by providing them with programs starting from undergraduate to specialization and continuing education.”

“Proudly, we have created a framework for residency programs, and we will definitely look into offering more specialized training programs in the future,” Dr. Sharif continued.

Professor Ayman Asaad Abdo, Secretary-General of the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties (SCHS), emphasized that such cooperation between GCC countries in the field of post-graduate training confirms the brotherly relationship that exists between these countries, and it also opens various avenues for further cooperation such as exchanging expertise. He expressed his satisfaction in seeing the tangible results of the memorandum of understanding that was signed between Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences and SCHS a year ago.

He further noted that SCHS has made a lot of progress in the field of health graduate programs. The Commission celebrated its silver jubilee a few weeks ago marking 25 years since its inception. A week ago, the commission also celebrated the graduation of more than 1700 students who were trained to be doctors, pharmacists and specialists.

The Saudi Board curriculum is intended to provide a broad foundation for residents and faculty to focus on teaching and learning as well as clinical experience and professional development during the training program period. All physicians participating in resident education will participate in a faculty development program and workshop on the CanMEDS Framework that identifies and describes the competencies physicians require to effectively meet the healthcare needs of the people they serve. These competencies are grouped thematically under seven roles.

The Al Jalila Children’s Residency Program has now begun accepting applications online on residency.aljalilachildrens.ae. — SG