Emiratis among 50 newly qualified doctors

ABU DHABI // Fifty new doctors, most of them Emirati, have graduated from a medical training camp.

The group were presented with certificates by Seha, the Abu Dhabi Health Services company, after a period of training and have now been assigned to hospitals and clinics across the emirate.

The new doctors “will have a prominent role in the future of Abu Dhabi health care, as well as the future of the UAE”, said Rashed Al Qubaisi, the executive director of Seha.

They have been posted to Sheikh Khalifa Medical City, Mafraq, Tawam and Al Ain hospitals, and Ambulatory Healthcare Services – which operates ambulatory and primary healthcare clinics in the capital.

Each of the graduates has adopted a specialism: 14 doctors were assigned to family medicine, 10 to internal medicine, five to paediatrics, six to psychiatry, three to dermatology, seven to emergency medicine, one to ophthalmology, two to surgery and two to X-rays.

"Seha's goal behind the residency programmes for physicians in their facilities is to increase the number of Emirati doctors working in the health sector in Abu Dhabi and to raise the level of resident physicians," Mr Al Qubaisi said.

“People are looking for leadership from the doctors who have completed their residency training in Seha hospitals, for their role in the healthcare sector in Abu Dhabi in particular, and in the UAE in general.”

He said he was proud of the doctors in “becoming highly trained medical staff according to the highest international standards, performing their duty towards their fellow citizens and residents on UAE territory”.

Mr Al Qubaisi said 40 Emirati graduates had qualified as doctors through a similar training programme in the past and that the health authority had continued to offer support and training to help them throughout their career.

“The issue of medical education and training is of great importance, so we are very keen to provide training programmes, accommodation and medical education after graduation,” he said.

"This matter has been given the utmost attention, since investing in the Emirati doctors is of great importance. We provide them with appropriate education and training, and with employment opportunities after graduation."