Thumbay International Pathway celebrates a decade and 90 new doctors at the convocation

The Medical University of Lublin (MUL), Poland, will hold a convocation to honor the students of its Thumbay International Pathway – Poland, the medical route that begins with pre-clinical study in Ajman and culminates in an MD degree from the Medical University of Lublin, Poland.

The ceremony marks a significant milestone. The program is now in its tenth year, and Gulf Medical University (GMU) has enrolled its 10th cohort of students.
It started modestly. In 2017, the programme was launched as the Associate Degree in Preclinical Sciences with just 27 students. In 2022, the Commission for Academic Accreditation renewed the programme’s accreditation with a substantive change to the Higher Diploma in Preclinical Sciences (HDPCS), a Level 6 qualification. The model includes three years of pre-clinical study at GMU, followed by transfer to Lublin for three years of clinical training, with the final MD degree awarded by its partner university and recognized across the European Union. The articulation agreement has ensured seamless transfer between the universities.

Since 2017, more than 650 students from 62 nationalities have enrolled. The first cohort graduated from Lublin in 2023, and the numbers have continued to grow every year.

This brings the total to 90 doctors who trained in Ajman and earned their degrees in Poland. Today, 335 students from more than 45 nationalities are enrolled across the three pre-clinical years at GMU, with future cohorts already progressing through the pathway.

Leaders from both universities reflected on the success of the partnership.

“Every name we read out today began as an application from a student who simply wanted to become a doctor. What this pathway gives them is an honest, direct route from Ajman to a European medical degree, with no guesswork and no closed doors. Seeing our tenth cohort arrive, with graduates now practicing across the world, tells me we built the right thing," said Prof. Manda Venkataramana, Chancellor, Gulf Medical University.

“Lublin has trained physicians for eight decades, and our partnership with Gulf Medical University has become one of the most rewarding chapters in that story. The students who arrive from Ajman are well prepared and ready for clinical work from their first day with us. We are proud to call them ours, and prouder still to send them into the world as doctors," said Prof. Wojciech Załuska, Rector, Medical University of Lublin, Poland.

The ceremony was held in the presence of Dr. Thumbay Moideen, Founder President of Thumbay Group and Gulf Medical University, whose vision set this pathway in motion. What began as his conviction that students in the UAE deserved a direct and trusted route to a global medical career now counts 90 graduates, with hundreds more on the way.

The program has become a trusted route into medicine for students from around the world. The June 23 convocation celebrates the graduates, their families, and the faculty across two countries who helped build this pathway.