Gulf Medical University’s White Coat ceremony welcomes new batch of future healthcare professionals
The new batch of students of Gulf Medical University (GMU) – Ajman, the leading medical university in the Middle East region, participated in a time-honored tradition – the White Coat Ceremony – on 12th September 2019, receiving their first white coats as a rite of passage to their respective healthcare careers. Dr. Thumbay Modeen, Founder, President Board of Trustees, GMU was the chief guest of the ceremony. Prof. Hossam Hamdy, the Chancellor of GMU presided.
The incoming batch of 472 students joins the international community of GMU comprising of students from 80+ nationalities, pursuing various medical and healthcare courses across 6 colleges. Those receiving their white coats were students in the first year of various programs: Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS), Bachelor of Biomedical Sciences (BBMS), Associate Degree in Pre-Clinical Sciences (ADPCS), Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD), Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD), Bachelor of Physiotherapy (BPT), Bachelor of Science – Medical Laboratory Sciences (B.Sc. MLS), Bachelor of Science – Medical Imaging Sciences (B.Sc. MIS), Bachelor of Science - Anesthesia Technology (B.Sc. AT), Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) and Bachelor of Science in Healthcare Management and Economics (B.Sc. HME). The incoming students belong to various nationalities. For the students, donning the white coat symbolized their transition into healthcare professionals of the future, committed to providing compassionate care to patients.
Addressing the students, Prof. Hossam Hamdy reminded them that the world around them was changing rapidly in terms of communication, travel, treating patients, use of technology etc. “An important competency which will remain unchanged is the communication between human beings. The patients, the students, the healthcare providers and the medical educators are all humans. How to communicate, connect and interact and feel will play a key role in educating health professionals,” he said.
Emphasizing on the importance of teamwork, Prof. Hossam Hamdy said, “Medical practice is no longer a case of a single doctor caring for his or her patients. You are part of a team, bringing in the expertise of a larger group of professionals, working within a health care system. Teamwork is the one of the important competency you have to acquire during your studies and beyond.”
This academic year marks the first ever batches of GMU’s newly launched colleges; the College of Healthcare Management & Economics - the first full-fledged college of its kind in the Middle East region offering Bachelors and Executive Masters programs in healthcare management & economics, and the College of Nursing.
GMU has collaboration agreements with around 68 top international universities in Europe, United States, Japan and Far East, giving the students opportunities for trainings abroad. Graduate programs are now being offered jointly and in collaboration with the University of Arizona, United States, Virginia Commonwealth University, United States, Medical College of Wisconsin, United States, FAIMER, United States, CenMedic, United Kingdom and Tokyo Medical and Dental College, Japan. GMU also provides merit-based scholarships to students.
Offering a total of 26 accredited programs through its 6 colleges, the University has been at the forefront of attaining international recognitions, some of the recent ones being the College of Medicine’s recent accreditation based on ‘World Federation of Medical Education’ standards, becoming the first in the UAE and the Gulf region to achieve this feat. The Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) program offered by our College of Pharmacy was recognized by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), making it the first internationally certified entry-to-practice PharmD program in UAE. Recently, GMU also hosted the prestigious MRCPUK PACES (Practical Assessment of Clinical Examination Skills) exam in collaboration with the Federation of the Royal Colleges of Physicians of the United Kingdom, joining the exclusive list of international PACES exam centers in the region.
GMU uses cutting-edge technology in the classrooms to enrich the learning experience of students. The Virtual Patient Learning (VPL) developed by the university and the recently launched 3D classroom uses Artifical Intelligence and Virtual Reality to give GMU students an interactive learning experience.
Gulf Medical University also has the distinction of being the only private Academic Health System (AHS) in the region, linking the healthcare, education and research functions. Among some of the most recent notable achievements is the operations of the state-of-the-art Thumbay Medicity, which includes the Thumbay Dental Hospital, the Thumbay Rehabilitation and Physical Therapy Hospital, and the Thumbay University Hospital. The University’s advanced research facility, the Thumbay Research Institute for Precision Medicine (TRIPM) drives its transformation into a research-based University. The institute is focused on conducting real time cancer and diabetes research with a focus on postgraduate studies and incorporating the research findings in our curriculum.
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Indian mobile hospital treats over 2,200 cyclone-hit people as New Delhi ramps up relief efforts in
Colombo (PTI): A mobile hospital set up by India in Sri Lanka has provided medical care to over 2,200 people affected by Cyclone Ditwah, as New Delhi ramped up its assistance to the flood-ravaged island nation with engineering support and delivery of fresh relief consignments, the Indian mission here said on Sunday.
Sri Lanka has been grappling with widespread flooding, landslides and severe infrastructure collapse triggered by the cyclone, leaving several districts isolated and severely straining the country's disaster-response capacity.
At least 627 people have been killed and 190 remain missing as of Sunday noon due to catastrophic floods and landslides caused by extreme weather conditions since November 16.
Sharing a social media post by the Ministry of External Affairs on its X handle, the Indian High Commission said a field hospital set up by India in Mahiyanganaya near Kandy has provided medical care to more than 2,200 people affected by the cyclone since December 5.
The hospital has also performed 67 minor procedures and three surgeries, it said. The field hospital was airlifted to Sri Lanka by an IAF C-17 aircraft along with a 78-member Indian medical team on Tuesday.
In another post, the mission said Indian Army engineers, working with Sri Lanka Army Engineers and the Road Development Authority, in Kilinochchi have begun removing a damaged bridge on the Paranthan–Karachchi–Mullaitivu (A35) road, a key route disrupted by the cyclone.
"This joint effort marks another step toward restoring vital connectivity for affected communities," it said.
India has additionally sent nearly 1,000 tonnes of food items and clothing contributed by the people of Tamil Nadu. Of these, about 300 tonnes reached Colombo on Sunday morning aboard three Indian Naval ships.
High Commissioner Santosh Jha handed over the supplies to Sri Lankan Minister for Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development Wasantha Samarasinghe.
India, on November 28, launched 'Operation Sagar Bandhu', a Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) initiative, to aid Sri Lanka in its recovery from the devastation caused by Cyclone Ditwah.
Since the launch of the operation, India has provided about 58 tonnes of relief material, including dry rations, tents, tarpaulins, hygiene kits, essential cloths, water purification kits and about 4.5 tonnes of medicines and surgical equipment, the Indian mission said in a press release on Sunday.
Another 60 tonnes of equipment, including generators, inflatable rescue boats, Outboard Motors, and excavators, have also been brought to Sri Lanka, it said, adding that 185 tonnes of Bailey Bridge units were airlifted to restore critical connectivity along with 44 engineers.
Two columns of the National Disaster Response Force, comprising 80 experts and K9 units with specially trained dogs, assisted with immediate rescue and relief efforts in Sri Lanka.
Besides the field hospital in Mahiyanganaya, medical centres have also been set up in the badly hit Ja-Ela region and in Negombo. INS Vikrant, INS Udaygiri, and INS Sukanya provided immediate rescue and relief assistance to Sri Lanka.
Apart from the two Chetak helicopters deployed from INS Vikrant, two heavy-lift, MI-17 helicopters of the Indian Air Force are actively involved in evacuations and airlifting relief material, the release said.
At the request of the Sri Lankan Disaster Management Centre, a virtual meeting was organised between DMC and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)'s National Remote Sensing Centre on Saturday.
Since the onset of the disaster, ISRO has been providing maps to assist DMC in its rescue efforts, the release said.
