Chancellor of Gulf Medical University awarded honorary Fellow of AMEE (FAMEE)

Professor Hossam Hamdy is a professor of surgery and medical education. An internationally known medical educator and active paediatric surgeon, Professor Hamdy is a scholar, professional and leader in higher education in the Middle East. Renowned internationally and the Chancellor of Gulf Medical University, he has been awarded the Honorary Fellow of AMEE(FAMEE) - an international association for medical education in Europe, and that is the biggest association in its category, having more than 3,000 educators in various health professions.

This award is prestigious and bestowed upon him to honour his outstanding contribution in the field of medical education. This award was given to him for his outstanding academic contributions, and for having had significant impact on the education of medical and health professions. Professor Hamdy's leadership and societal impact have provided great support to education for medical and health professions, and created opportunities and fostered innovation in the institution, region and country for the advancement of education within the field.

This is not only a proud moment for Gulf Medical University but also the UAE, and a reflection of the work and excellence done in the country and that is visible globally. Gulf Medical University has been a hallmark of innovation for education that is aimed at professions centred around health. Professor Hossam Hamdy says, “We are preparing the health professionals of the future who are going to serve the UAE, region and all over the world." He was personally very happy on being recognised as he has devoted his life for the development of medical education, which he hopes will also inspire other colleagues to do more in the field of medical education.

He advised young and those aspiring in the field to be proud of training health professionals, as if you train one person who is able to do 10,000 operations, and then go on to train 10 such professionals you are going to play an exponential role. Lifelong learning and self-development are most important for any individual to succeed, We have to keep pace with the ways of teaching and of contributing towards the development of the future workforce in the health sector.

The future of health professions is bright, but the system of healthcare is changing rapidly, as is the technology. Health professionals should therefore be trained to work in the new world of healthcare practice, which will be highly enabled by technology, and preparing future graduates in using technology is becoming an important component of health professions education.

Dealing with human beings needs a professional to be empathetic and to be able to understand the fear of the patient and his family. They need to have good communication skills and to understand the needs of the patient. Gulf Medical University hopes to see a more healthy and safe world in future.