The Academic Team at Gulf Medical University has compiled the long-term strategic growth plan of doubling its capacity in the next three to four years and aligning to future requirements and strategic direction of Education policies laid down by the United Arab Emirates and thereby Creating an Emirati healthcare workforce to serve the community.
The university recently announced the project for accepting payments through crypto currencies and to be the first private university on metaverse and has strived relentlessly to scale new heights by use of technology and fostering brilliance to over 2600 students plus 2000 part time from more than 90 different nationalities and 29 accredited Undergraduate and graduate programmes run by the six constituent colleges in the field medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, nursing, biomedical sciences, anesthesia technology, medical laboratory sciences, physiotherapy and healthcare management and economics.
Owned by the Thumbay Group and founded by Dr Thumbay Moideen in 1998, the University has scaled 10-fold with its focus on providing international quality education and healthcare through GMU’s Academic Health Center at Thumbay Medicity.
The six colleges under the academic leadership of Professor Hossam Hamdy, Chancellor of Gulf Medical University and his academic team have progressed well in the last decade growing the university’s global footprint in more than 96 countries. GMU and Thumbay network of academic hospitals daycare, labs, pharmacies and clinics together train around 20 per cent of the doctors and approximately 60 per cent of the healthcare professionals in the country, creating a significant impact on the healthcare sector of the country and the region. The students are provided with adequate opportunities to showcase their achievements through student activities, interprofessional skills, sporting and cultural events which groom them to be future healthcare professionals.
In addition, the students receive training in the clinical training sites of unmatched quality at 8 hospitals, 10 clinics, 5 labs and 48 pharmacies and a total of 700 beds besides other tie-ups with local entities as clinical training sites with over 400 qualified faculty, doctors and adjunct faculty who provide one-on-one clinical training to students and quality care to the patients of UAE.
GMU has created unique technological platforms and an outstanding infrastructure for research on imaging, functional genomics, sequencing with NGS facility, pioneering the establishment of the first liquid biopsy facility in the region, the zebra fish and a platform for drug discovery and development. GMU is the leader in research in medical education in UAE and the entire region with 70% of all papers published in medical education in the UAE coming from GMU.
Since its inception, around 2,000 students have graduated from GMU and made successful careers working at various positions – including CEOs, COOs, Medical Directors and Heads of Departments – in healthcare and research in the Middle East, Africa, South Asia, Europe, North America and Australia. Moreover, the University’s academic and research tie-ups with over 70 international universities and research institutions ensure global recognition and employability for GMU graduates.
The strategic plan includes several unique growth opportunities which include opening of a branch campus in Dubai by the end of next year and the starting of vocational courses. Up to 82 Short Term Certificate programmes have been identified, while its blended learning and online programmes are helping professionals to develop better skills required to get better jobs and placements and to fulfil future needs of the healthcare industry.
Dr Thumbay Moideen, Founder President, Board of Trustees, says, “we have always been innovative in what we do and have laid down a strategic growth plan to double the capacity of our university, which aligns to the future requirements and needs of the country.”
The university is planning to start several new programmes under the colleges of Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy, Nursing, Health Sciences and Healthcare management and economics to expand its health professions training offerings and double its training capacity in the next three to four years.
The recent development of programmes has led to dual entry programs in Medicine and Pharmacy, where high school graduates get entry to pursue an MD or PharmD degree or opt out in 4 years to get a Bachelor in Medical Sciences or Bachelor of Pharmacy degree or continue for an MD or PharmD Degree in 6 years respectively. The new PhD in Precision Medicine is a dual degree programme in partnership with the Paris-Saclay University, France.
The GMU College of Pharmacy has introduced the first-of-its-kind fellowship in clinical pharmacy research in the Middle East, providing a unique path for pharmacists and pharmacy graduates in the country and the region to become clinician scientists. The fellowship programme is being offered jointly between GMU and Washington State University.
GMU’s collaboration with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has led to humanitarian learning in healthcare to create a model youth force in the country that will be equipped with all the basic skills and knowledge to fight any emergency crisis as per international standards.
The Future Scientist programme is an innovative educational enrichment internship programme designed to attract young, talented and exceptionally motivated male and female Emirati school students, to nurture their interest in biomedical and drug discovery research and prepare them for an exciting career as research scientists. GMU has recently achieved international accreditation by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA), the agency responsible for accrediting higher education institutions in the UK utilising European standards and guidelines for quality assurance.
Gulf Medical University has won several awards from Forbes, Dubai Quality Award, QS Awards, QS Reimagine WRC Leaders and Ranking from QS University Rankings. Times Higher Education impact ranking has placed us among the top universities in the region and globally and we have emerged as an international university, creating a landmark on the global map of medical education providers.
