Al Ain: The first batch of Emirati doctors have graduated from a UAE integrated general surgery programme at Tawam Hospital, becoming fully-licensed general surgeons.

The six surgeons were newly qualified Emirati MDs when they joined the five-year programme at Tawam Hospital which is affiliated with Johns Hopkins Medicine, said an official from the hospital Sunday. The programme, which was previously unavailable in the UAE, was launched in 2006 in line with Emiratisation aspirations.

Honoured

The doctors were provided with on-the-job training, supervision, tuition, assessment and evaluation during the programme. The graduates were recently honoured at a ceremony. The event also featured an awards presentation to recognise Dr Mudehat Mujahed as Teacher of the Year 2011, and Dr Noura Al Ali as the 2011 Best Scorer In-Service Examinations.

Dr Ali Abdul Karim Al Obaidi, chief officer of the Clinical Affairs Division at Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (SEHA), said his organisation was committed to building a sustainable UAE health care system where UAE nationals assume a larger role in health care needs in the country.

"The UAE integrated General Surgery Residency Programme at Tawam is in line with this commitment, as it has served to incubate Emirati talent to the point that these professionals have become the first surgeons trained in the UAE," he said.

Proven capacity

He said the graduation highlighted that the UAE now has the proven capacity to produce its own general surgeons which is an immensely important development in the future of the national health care sector, he added.

Humaid Al Mansouri, Deputy CEO of Tawam Hospital, also spoke on the occasion saying the programme had a profound impact on local medicine. "Any surgeon will tell you that his years in general surgery residency are amongst the demanding of his career," he said.

Gruelling

"The gruelling hours and intense challenges completed to graduate from a surgical residency are a testament to the untold commitment of the physicians to medicine and surgery," he added.

Tawam Hospital is part of the SEHA Health System and is owned and operated by SEHA, which is responsible for the curative activities of all the public hospitals and clinics in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, including the General Surgery Residency Programme hosted by Tawam.