UAE to boost number of home-grown doctors with Ivy League-partnered medicine degree

Link-up with University of Pennsylvania will boost local healthcare system

The president of the American University in Dubai called Penn 'a phenomenal partner'. Getty Images

American University in Dubai (AUD) is to establish a school of medicine with an Ivy League US university to assist in the UAE's quest to become a “global leader” in health care.

The partnership with the prestigious University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine (Penn Medicine) aims to place AUD at the forefront of medicine in the region, help train the next generation of doctors locally and improve health care in the UAE and across the region.

Penn Medicine was founded in 1765 and was the first medical school in the US. The agreement signed on Tuesday at the Dubai campus launches the project to build the school under its guidance.

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The American institution has been responsible for several medical breakthroughs such as the Nobel Prize-winning mRNA technology used in Covid-19 vaccines, and pioneering cancer treatment. It will now help guide the curriculum, faculty, admissions and more at the Dubai campus.

Dr Kyle Long, president of American University in Dubai. Dr Long said the new school aims to set new standards in education. Antonie Robertson / The National

'Phenomenal' partnership

“We are really excited,” Dr Kyle Long, president of the American University in Dubai, told The National. “They are a phenomenal partner. They have the expertise and they have the global profile to help us to help the UAE achieve its ambitions to be a global leader in the health sciences space,” he said. He said the new school aims to set new standards in education.

Penn Medicine and AUD will develop a curriculum for a doctor of medicine degree programme that will follow the US postgraduate model under which students first have a graduate degree and then enter medical school, but it will also be tailored to the needs of the region. It has not been announced when the school will accept its first students but that is expected to be several years away.

It is expected that new buildings will be constructed for the school in or close to the existing campus, which is located in Al Sufouh, but nothing was formally announced on Tuesday.

The collaboration is expected to result in many more doctors being trained in the country. Antonie Robertson / The National

“At this point we are ready to get going and move past the planning phase and really start to implement,” said Dr Long.

“We are trying to proceed as fast as possible to get students enrolled in a doctor of medicine programme because we really believe in what we're doing, and so we are going to be moving at the speed that our compliance and regulators allow,” he said.

Dr Long expected the future intake to mirror the make-up of the current student body, which has about 100 nationalities – about a third Emirati, a third foreign residents living in the UAE and the rest those who come to the UAE to study. When students do enter the medical school, years one and two will be typically taken on campus and the remaining two at hospitals.

The launch also aims to bolster the UAE’s strategy to boost the healthcare sector and help cement Dubai’s vision to establish the city as a global hub for medical tourism.

Building for the future

Dr Glen Gaulton, vice dean and director of the centre for global health at Penn Medicine, said the school would help the sector in the UAE and bring Penn’s experience – it operates in about 80 countries across the globe – to the Emirates. Dr Gaulton said it is important to increase the number of doctors trained in the country, given the rising population and reliance on overseas medics, and that the school aims to do this.

Dr Glen Gaulton, vice dean and director of the centre for global health at the Perelman School of Medicine. Dr Gaulton said the school could bring pioneering treatments to the region. Antonie Robertson / The National

“Hopefully then they would stay for the residency programmes and hopefully stay longer term to build their whole lives and careers here,” Dr Gaulton told The National. “That breeds a continuance of excellence [and will have a] dramatic effect on improving health care.”

Dr Gaulton said Penn does “really distinctive things”, particularly through its pioneering use of new medical developments such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality, simulation and more, and that these could be brought to the region. “Medicine is going to be practised incredibly differently 10 years from now,” he said.

There are eight universities in the UAE that offer undergraduate medical degree courses, according to Allocation Assist Middle East, which connects doctors with hospitals in the region.

The event on Tuesday was also attended by Dr J Larry Jameson, president of the University of Pennsylvania, and other representatives from both universities, government dignitaries, industry partners, doctors from leading healthcare institutions and academic leaders.

“Working with Penn is humbling and inspiring,” said Dr Long. “We wouldn't be doing this if we didn't think it was going to have a transformational impact.”