ABU DHABI // All doctors, nurses and pharmacists in the Northern Emirates will have to take compulsory training courses each year, the Ministry of Health said yesterday.
In order to renew their licences, apply for a promotion or qualify for a salary increase, all medical professionals will have to take a set number of hours of courses.
Doctors will have to undergo 30 hours of training a year, while pharmacists will be expected to complete 20 hours, nurses 15 hours and technicians 10 hours.
Similar requirements are already in place in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
Dr Amin al Amiri, the head of medical licensing at the ministry, said continuing medical education would help improve performance.
"These hours were optional before but it is important that they are compulsory, for the private and public sector," he said.
"They are the basis to improve the quality of health services, in order to ensure development and improved performance."
Doctors in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, who operate under the Dubai Health Authority and Health Authority-Abu Dhabi, often take the training required of them in the form of seminars at health conferences.
Health professionals in the capital clocked up 1,896 hours of training in 2009, an increase of 46 per cent on the previous year.
Physiotherapists, respiratory-therapists, dietetics and medical laboratory technologists in Abu Dhabi are expected to join the programme by the end of this year.
Dubai-based Dr Ali al Numairy, vice president of the Arab Medical Union, which has 420,000 members across the Middle East, said the ministry's move was a "worthy" one.
"The purpose is obvious," he said. "Medical staff should be constantly improving their skills and learning new things.
"Unless it is compulsory, not many people will be interested in taking the time to go and learn, so this needs to be done."
Continuing education was already compulsory in Kuwait, Bahrain, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia, he said. It is also common in countries such as India, Britain and Canada.
The Delhi Medical Council, which represents 24,000 doctors in the Indian capital, made it mandatory in 2002 for members to complete 100 hours of education every five years to keep their professional registration.
In Canada, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada decrees that fellows must complete 400 credits every five years, with a minimum of 40 credits obtained in each year of the cycle. Credits can be gained by attending lectures or taking exams.
Dr al Amiri said the ministry would launch a website for doctors and pharmacists to register for courses.
"The ministry will be organising workshops, training programmes and educational opportunities for medical staff, in collaboration with other health authorities and pharmaceutical companies," he added.
Dr Wesam Kadhum, a dermatologist at Gulf Medical University Hospital in Ajman, said the move would help to improve the general level of medical services.
"I've already done more than 60 hours this year, voluntary, but I know many other people don't do them," he said. "It is important for everyone in the medical professional.
"Things are constantly changing and you need to keep up to date with all types of skills and technologies. This is very encouraging."
There are currently around 8,400 doctors, nurses and pharmacists in the private sector. Accurate figures on the number of staff in the public sector were not available from the ministry yesterday.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Brief scores:
Toss: Sindhis, elected to field first
Pakhtoons 137-6 (10 ov)
Fletcher 68 not out; Cutting 2-14
Sindhis 129-8 (10 ov)
Perera 47; Sohail 2-18
The specs: 2017 Dodge Viper SRT
Price, base / as tested Dh460,000
Engine 8.4L V10
Transmission Six-speed manual
Power 645hp @ 6,200rpm
Torque 813Nm @ 5,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined 16.8L / 100km
PAKISTAN SQUAD
Pakistan - Sarfraz Ahmed (captain), Azhar Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Hafeez, Haris Sohail, Faheem Ashraf, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Amir, Hasan Ali, Aamer Yamin, Rumman Raees.
The specS: 2018 Toyota Camry
Price: base / as tested: Dh91,000 / Dh114,000
Engine: 3.5-litre V6
Gearbox: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 298hp @ 6,600rpm
Torque: 356Nm @ 4,700rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 7.0L / 100km
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Mountain%20Boy
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Zainab%20Shaheen%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Naser%20Al%20Messabi%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Scotland's team:
15-Sean Maitland, 14-Darcy Graham, 13-Nick Grigg, 12-Sam Johnson, 11-Byron McGuigan, 10-Finn Russell, 9-Ali Price, 8-Magnus Bradbury, 7-Hamish Watson, 6-Sam Skinner, 5-Grant Gilchrist, 4-Ben Toolis, 3-Willem Nel, 2-Stuart McInally (captain), 1-Allan Dell
Replacements: 16-Fraser Brown, 17-Gordon Reid, 18-Simon Berghan, 19-Jonny Gray, 20-Josh Strauss, 21-Greig Laidlaw, 22-Adam Hastings, 23-Chris Harris
RESULTS
ATP China Open
G Dimitrov (BUL x3) bt R Bautista Agut (ESP x5)
7-6, 4-6, 6-2
R Nadal (ESP x1) bt J Isner (USA x6)
6-4, 7-6
WTA China Open
S Halep (ROU x2) bt D Kasatkina (RUS)
6-2, 6-1
J Ostapenko (LAT x9) bt S Cirstea (ROU)
6-4, 6-4
ATP Japan Open
D Schwartzman (ARG x8) bt S Johnson (USA)
6-0, 7-5
D Goffin (BEL x4) bt R Gasquet (FRA)
7-5, 6-2
M Cilic (CRO x1) bt R Harrison (USA)
6-2, 6-0
MATCH INFO
England 2
Cahill (3'), Kane (39')
Nigeria 1
Iwobi (47')
more from Janine di Giovanni
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
PROFILE BOX:
Company/date started: 2015
Founder/CEO: Rami Salman, Rishav Jalan, Ayush Chordia
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Technology, Sales, Voice, Artificial Intelligence
Size: (employees/revenue) 10/ 100,000 downloads
Stage: 1 ($800,000)
Investors: Eight first-round investors including, Beco Capital, 500 Startups, Dubai Silicon Oasis, Hala Fadel, Odin Financial Services, Dubai Angel Investors, Womena, Arzan VC
MATCH INFO
Argentina 47 (Tries: Sanchez, Tuculet (2), Mallia (2), De La Fuente, Bertranou; Cons: Sanchez 5, Urdapilleta)
United States 17 (Tries: Scully (2), Lasike; Cons: MacGinty)
Key findings
- Over a period of seven years, a team of scientists analysed dietary data from 50,000 North American adults.
- Eating one or two meals a day was associated with a relative decrease in BMI, compared with three meals. Snacks count as a meal. Likewise, participants who ate more than three meals a day experienced an increase in BMI: the more meals a day, the greater the increase.
- People who ate breakfast experienced a relative decrease in their BMI compared with “breakfast-skippers”.
- Those who turned the eating day on its head to make breakfast the biggest meal of the day, did even better.
- But scrapping dinner altogether gave the best results. The study found that the BMI of subjects who had a long overnight fast (of 18 hours or more) decreased when compared even with those who had a medium overnight fast, of between 12 and 17 hours.
