The Spectrum of Medical Education and Training in the UAE: Accomplishments and Points to Ponder

The medical education and training sector in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is rapidly expanding, with new institutions and programs being developed at an unprecedented pace. There is now a spectrum of medical education and training available in the UAE, with both undergraduate and postgraduate (PG) options available, including residency and fellowship programs for those who wish to train for a career in medicine. Almost all medical schools in the UAE have adopted medical curricula from institutions outside the Arab world. This necessitates adaptations in order to achieve equivalency with the Emirates’ community needs. This chapter also explores some of the challenges facing the medical institutions in the country and ways in which these issues might be addressed going forward. The lack of congruence between the number of medical graduates and the number of PG clinical residency opportunities in the UAE poses an additional challenge. Finally, the chapter concludes with a call-to-action for centralized nationwide attention toward a collegial effort for standardized undergraduate and postgraduate medical education and training enterprises, including accredited teaching hospitals and international collaboration with premier medical institutions. This chapter provides an overview of the UAE medical education landscape, with a particular focus on strengths and areas for improvement.