AJMAN // A Dh425million, 300-bed teaching hospital and Dh50m medical research centre will be opened in Ajman.
The facilities are part of ambitious expansion plans by the Gulf Medical University, which opened in the emirate in 1998 with just 100 students and now has 1,100 aspiring doctors and nurses enrolled on courses.
The UAE only has one dedicated teaching hospital, Sharjah University Hospital, which has just 220 beds.
“Medical education really means practical experience,” said Thumbay Moideen, founder and president of GMU and the Thumbay medical group.
“We have simulation centres and skills labs but practical experience can only be generated by interacting with patients and seeing procedures in hospitals.”
Dr Moideen said the new centre would have access to his network of four hospitals and six clinics across the UAE.
“In this country there isn’t an academic hospital network, so all our clinics will cater to our students’ needs.”
Dr P K Menon, director of GMU’s Centre for Advanced Biomedical Research and Innovation, said the hospital would open next year or in 2018.
“For a medical teaching institution, it is imperative it have its own teaching hospital and training facilities,” Dr Menon said. “This enables us to impart real time on-the-job training to students, to learn the various aspects of medical care such as bedside examination and manners, therapy selection, treatment planning and so on.”
The research centre, scheduled to open in September, will also aid students’ growth, said Dr Menon.
“Research and education go hand in hand,” the doctor said.
“Research enables the student to develop an inquisitive mind in a structured manner.
“A research centre in the university helps the student to study the molecular mechanisms of diseases, inheritance and genetic basis of disease, correlation of diseases with environment, cultural habits of the population and dietary habits.
“A centre like ours is also involved in helping in the creation of new therapies, clinical trials of new drugs. This also helps in giving the community effective care when ill. By understanding all the aspects of the disease we also help work out ways to prevent disease in the community.”
Dr Menon said students would have access to the latest medical developments. “A graduate of GMU is aware of the latest in research methodology, how to conduct research, study design, and functioning of an institutional review board. It helps instil an attitude of inquiry.”
The research centre will offer a full range of disciplines from molecular medicine to patient-based clinical studies. The university will also launch a course in medical innovation.
Last month, Dr B R Shetty announced plans to build the first medical university within Abu Dhabi city.
The businessman, founder and chief executive of NMC Healthcare and UAE Exchange, said he would invest “at least US$2 billion (Dh7.35bn)” in the project, which will be run in conjunction with either Duke University in North Carolina or the University of California, San Diego, and will be open to Emiratis and expatriates.
He hoped the university would be ready to accept students sometime next year, depending on how long it took to obtain a licence.
mswan@thenational.ae
