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Khalifa University has announced 49 newly enrolled students at the College of Medicine and Health Sciences (CMHS) to study the 4+4 American curriculum MD program took their customary oath at a White Coat Ceremony, marking the start of their Fall 2021 classes.
During the ceremony, the class of 2025 cohort wearing their white coats, were officially welcomed by Dr. Arif Sultan Al Hammadi, Executive Vice-President, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, and Dr. John Rock, Dean, Khalifa University College of Medicine and Health Sciences, after which they pledged their allegiance to the medical code of ethics.
The White Coat Ceremony was streamed live on Khalifa University’s YouTube channel, with parents, friends and families participating virtually. Currently, a total of 113 students have enrolled across the first three years of the four-year postgraduate MD program at CMHS.
Dr. Arif Sultan Al Hammadi said: “The Khalifa University College of Medicine and Health Sciences has made steady progress over the years, generating significant interest among the students and implementing community-focused collaborations and new initiatives. As we warmly welcome the third cohort of medical students to Khalifa University, we believe they will contribute to the UAE’s healthcare ecosystem, not only through patient care but also through cutting-edge scientific and medical research that will benefit the community in general.”
Dr. John Rock said: “We are delighted to welcome our largest class to date with the time-honored tradition of donning their first medical white coat. This is an exciting time for them to be joining our new and developing MD degree program. Over the past year, we successfully forged partnerships that enable our students, under the guidance of faculty, to be fully immersed in the Abu Dhabi community, providing healthcare in hospitals, clinics, and homes.”
Last year, the second cohort of medical students received white coats at the ceremony, which symbolized welcoming the first-year students to the practice of medicine, elevating the value of humanism as the core of health care. The white coat, which stands as a symbol of the medical profession, also represents a student’s transition to a scientific approach to medicine, while signifying the commitment to the practice of medicine and the patient-physician relationship.
Over the years, the Khalifa University College of Medicine and Health Sciences has registered remarkable achievements, including publishing 110 research papers in respected international scientific and medical journals. Khalifa University CMHS PubMed-listed research papers address a wide array of biomedical topics of relevance to the UAE and beyond, ranging from the Arab genome to diabetes, nanoparticles to cardiovascular and medical education.
Over the past year, the Khalifa University CMHS received approval from the UAE’s Commission for Academic Accreditation (CAA) for implementation of the Clinical Phase of the MD program. This significant milestone for the university enabled the first cohort of CMHS medical students to commence their clinical clerkships in April of this year.
Khalifa University continues to offer pipeline programs to stimulate interest and enhance the qualifications of potential applicants to the CMHS MD degree program. A weeklong Summer Med-Camp provided learning and growth opportunities for UAE National high school students with an interest in pursuing careers in medicine and health sciences. Khalifa University’s unique Pre-Medicine Bridge (PMB) Program conducted a Research Symposium to provide the transitioning students an opportunity to showcase their research efforts.
Embracing a social-accountability-focused mission that incorporates attention to the social determinants of health, and develop socially accountable future physicians, the CMHS offers the Balsam program, which emphasizes social accountability and inter-professional education while providing evidence-based, patient- and family-centered care.
Clarence Michael
English Editor Specialist
13 October 2021
