Harvard Medical School Dubai Center

FAQS

Q: What is the Harvard Medical School Dubai Center (HMSDC)?

The Harvard Medical School Dubai Center (HMSDC) Institute for Postgraduate Education and Research was established to foster the professional development of physicians, nurses, research scientists, allied health professionals, and medical educators in the Gulf Region. Launched in 2004 through a joint effort by then-Harvard Medical International (now Partners Harvard Medical International) and Dubai Healthcare City (DHCC), HMSDC is part of the Government of Dubai’s mission to develop DHCC into a center of excellence for health care delivery, medical education, and research.

HMSDC is currently constructing a building which will provide the DHCC community with access to:

A 340 Seat Auditorium
Classroom/Education Space
Al Maktoum Harvard Medical Library
Medical Simulation Center

Q: What kinds of programs does HMSDC offer?

HMSDC’s professional development and education programs fall into two broad categories: continuing professional development (CPD), including Continuing Medical Education (CME), and postgraduate training.

HMSDC offers a wide range of CPD/CME programs open to physicians, nurses, and allied health professionals in the Gulf Region. Each program is led by a multidisciplinary faculty drawn from Harvard Medical School, other preeminent academic medical centers around the world as well as local institutions. HMSDC works to ensure that each program maintains academic independence, and that course content is consistent with the principles of evidence-based medicine.

The HMSDC postgraduate training program provides selected health care professionals with opportunities to advance their knowledge and skills under the tutelage of recognized leaders in academic medicine. All trainees participate in a rigorous curriculum that has a specific focus, educational goals, and requirements. The programs are designed to provide the most comprehensive educational experience by developing the trainee’s clinical skills and expertise in a specific area of clinical investigation. These programs currently take place in affiliated institutions of Harvard Medical School, with later programs to be hosted at the University Hospital (UH) and other institutions within DHCC.

Q: What is Continuing Medical Education?

Continuing Medical Education (CME) is a continuous process of acquiring new knowledge and skills throughout one's professional life. Because undergraduate and postgraduate education are insufficient to ensure physicians’ lifelong competence, CME is essential to maintain the competencies of physicians, to remedy gaps in skills, and to enable professionals to respond to the challenges of rapidly growing knowledge and technologies, changing health needs, and the social, political, and economic factors of the practice of medicine. Continuing Medical Education depends heavily upon learner motivation and self-directed learning skills. In some jurisdictions (including DHCC) a physician is required to obtain a given number of hours of CME in order to maintain a license to practice.

Q: Is HMSDC an accredited CME provider?

Harvard Medical School is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide Continuing Medical Education for physicians. Select CME activities offered by HMSDC are reviewed by the Department of Continuing Education at Harvard Medical School and designated credits are awarded. In addition, HMSDC is recognized as an accrediting body for CME by the UAE Ministry of Health, the Department of Health and Medical Services in Dubai and the Health Authority of Abu Dhabi. All HMSDC CME activities are accredited.

Q. How are CME hours calculated?

CME is designated on an hour-for-hour basis, i.e., for every hour one spends in a CME activity, you receive one (1) hour of CME credit.

Many CME conferences include scheduled breaks, business meetings, and other activities that do not qualify as CME. These hours are deducted from the total CME hours received by participants. Also, if one attends a conference, but needs to leave early to meet another obligation, this time should be deducted.

Q: What is Postgraduate training?

Postgraduate training includes any education that a physician receives after graduating from medical school. In practice, the term is generally used to refer to specialty training programs that newly graduated doctors take to become specialists, such as pediatricians, surgeons or radiologists.

Q: How are HMSDC’s education programs developed?

HMSDC collaborates with regional health authorities, local hospitals and universities, and medical societies and specialty groups to identify areas of need and interest, and develop customized programs that are relevant to practice. The DHCC Academic Council provides program oversight and evaluation for all DHCC-based education programs. In addition, HMSDC seeks input from independent authorities to help ensure the strength of its programs.

Q: What are the specialties available through HMSDC’s postgraduate training program and what is the duration?

Customized training opportunities can be arranged in many subspecialty fields on a case by case basis by candidate interest, qualifications, and mentor availability. Interested parties are encouraged to apply and clearly indicate the specific specialty or area of interest.

Most clinical and research fellowship programs are for one to three years. Start times are flexible within limits, but some programs have preset starting dates, usually in concordance with the academic year, beginning on July 1.

Most observerships are for 1-3 months. Start times can be flexible depending on trainee and mentor availability.

Q: What is the role of Harvard University in HMSDC?

Harvard University, through its subsidiary organization Harvard Medical International (now Partners Harvard Medical International), has a strategic collaboration with the Government of Dubai aimed at making DHCC a center of excellence for health care delivery, medical education, and research. To support education activities at DHCC, HMI (now Partners Harvard Medical International) and DHCC developed HMSDC. Its programs and infrastructure depend on contributions from faculty throughout Harvard University, particularly those of Harvard Medical School and its 18 affiliated hospitals, who teach in a wide variety of education programs offered through HMSDC.

Q: Does Harvard Medical School plan to start an undergraduate medical school in Dubai or the Gulf Region?

HMSDC is focused on providing postgraduate medical education and continuing professional development. There are no plans currently to develop a medical school to provide undergraduate medical education.

Q: What role will HMSDC have in regulating clinical research activities in DHCC?

HMSDC, through the Office for Research Administration (ORA), will provide DHCC with the expertise needed to establish the governance and regulatory infrastructure for conducting research involving human subjects within DHCC. This structure will be based on international guidelines and allow DHCC to become a leading regional center for healthcare research. The DHCC Research Council and the Research Ethics Review Board (RERB) will be responsible for regulating and monitoring the conduct of clinical research studies on DHCC premises. The Office for Research Administration will also act as a reference center for all those wishing to engage in research activities to better understand Good Clinical Practices, research bioethics and human subject protection and safety. HMSDC also plans to offer research training for the Middle East region.

Initially DHCC plans to provide an infrastructure for research involving human subjects. In the future, the Office for Research Administration will create an Animal Care and Use Committee and a Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research Oversight (ESCRO) Committee to provide for further research initiatives.

Q: How is clinical research related to the quality of care provided at DHCC?

Results from clinical research are used to continuously improve the quality of care given to patients. Research creates better healthcare within DHCC by allowing for earlier identification of health risks, as well as creating an atmosphere where the most recent medications and technology is available to our patients.

Q: What is the Al Maktoum Harvard Medical Library (AMHML)?

The AMHML whose name reflects the commitment and generosity of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai will be a modern 30,000 square feet medical library located within the HMSDC building. It is currently under construction and is expected to be functional in early 2009. It will have advanced modern IT features such as remote access to electronic resources and Patron Self-Check stations. Smart Book Return stations will be placed at several locations at DHCC to ease the process of borrowing and returning library resources.

Q: What services will the AMHML offer within DHCC?

The library will offer both hard copy and electronic books and journals. Access to the library resources, loaning of laptops and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), research assistance, inter-library loan, printing, photocopying, and group study rooms are some of the other services planned. Everyone working within DHCC will have access to the library.

Q: What resources and services does the AMHML have at this time?

Although the AMHML has not yet opened, the library currently subscribes to 153 medical journals (which were recommended by health care professionals who practice at DHCC). Online access to almost 1000 electronic journals is also provided to address the needs of DHCC community.

Q: What is the Medical Simulation Center?

The Simulation Center at HMSDC will be a 20,000 square feet educational facility located at DHCC. The project will create a modern and sophisticated simulation center to provide CME and other programs imparting the highest level of training to healthcare professionals as well as contributing to the promotion of the highest standards of quality in health care. The medical simulation center will include a core block of advanced treatment facilities and a large area that will allow for the simulation of various field events.

Q: What services will the Medical Simulation Center provide in DHCC?

Various types of simulators and simulation-based training can be used separately or together as part of a specialized curriculum or curricula developed to meet the needs of all healthcare professionals.

Courses that will be provided initially include; rescue and transportation, emergency care given in the field, Emergency Room management, Operation Room management, Intensive Care Unit management, post-operative care, and team performance. Eventually, a broad offering of courses is planned to include a range of basic, specialized, team training and leaders in the field courses. This center is planned to be operational by early 2009.

Q: What is the Dubai Harvard Foundation for Medical Research (DHFMR)?

The Dubai Harvard Foundation for Medical Research was created to help drive resurgence in scientific inquiry and discovery in the Middle East, and lead to innovations that will address the region’s most pressing health problems. The Foundation aims to support cutting-edge collaborative research, as well as establish sustainable research centers and education programs focused on creating innovations in medical practice. Through these activities, the Foundation will enable the Gulf Region’s best minds to help usher in a new era of scientific promise, while contributing to advances that will ease the suffering caused by disease.

Q: What is DHFMR’s purpose?

DHFMR’s programs:

Build human capital – medical and scientific leaders for Dubai, the UAE and the Gulf Region.
Fund Dubai Harvard Foundation Research Centers directed at priority disease areas for the region.
Support collaborative research between Harvard Medical School Research Centers and labs in the region that will build sustainable research programs in the Middle East.
Develop a sustainable infrastructure in Dubai for an international exchange of scholars.
Focus on diseases that are relevant to the populations of the entire Middle East region.

Q: What kind of research does DHFMR support?

DHFMR supports medical and biomedical research. The Foundation programs will include collaborative research initiatives between developing or existing research programs and laboratories at Harvard Medical School and similar programs at academic and research facilities in the Middle East. These collaborations are identified as DHFMR Collaborative Research Centers, and will provide multi-year opportunities for researchers and scientists to focus on diseases and health issues relevant to the populations of the Middle East region.

DHMFR also supports research for individual researchers and scientists at the post-doctoral level for 3-year Research Fellowships. Ideally, these individuals will be in the early stage of their career Young Investigators, who show the promise and talent to become the Middle East region’s future leaders in scientific research can become Research Fellowship recipients will train at a Harvard Medical School laboratory and will be expected to return to the region to continue their career.

Q: How can I apply for a DHFMR research award?

Application information and deadlines for DHFMR Collaborative Research Center grants and Research Fellowship awards can be found at the DHFMR website: www.dhfmr.hms.harvard.edu. All applications are reviewed by a Review Committee, which makes its recommendations to the Scientific Advisory Committee and the DHFMR Board of Trustees. These awards will be made annually.

Q: What is the role of Harvard Medical International (HMI)/ Harvard Medical School (HMS) in DHCC?

Harvard Medical International (HMI) is a self-supporting not-for-profit subsidiary of Harvard Medical School (HMS) whose role is to extend internationally the School's tradition of improving the quality of health care through excellence in clinical medicine, medical education, and biomedical research.
HMI recruits a team of health care professionals to oversee the implementation and management of DHCC's quality infrastructure
HMI develops a health care management infrastructure to support continuous improvement throughout DHCC.
HMI partners with the Center for Healthcare Planning and Quality (CPQ) which works to ensure that health care providers applying for entry into Dubai Healthcare City meet international standards of quality and are on a course of continued progress.

Since 1994, HMI has been involved in more than 50 projects in over 40 countries. HMI’s guiding philosophy is that no citizen of the world should have to travel outside of his/her own community to access quality health care.

Q: What advantages do HMI and HMS bring to DHCC?

Harvard Medical School’s faculty is comprised of 8,500 members representing almost every country in the world.

All initiatives within DHCC will have access to these experts, as well as their global network of faculty from other academic institutions around the world.
Relationships with 18 Harvard Medical School-affiliated hospitals, as well as HMI’s associated centers around the world offer opportunities for training and education.