Khalifa University’s College of Medicine and Health Sciences has launched new initiatives aimed at bolstering the UAE’s healthcare infrastructure to advance research and train highly skilled clinicians
Khalifa University’s College of Medicine and Health Sciences (CMHS) has recently launched two initiatives designed to support the UAE’s goal of improving its healthcare research capabilities. The two initiatives together will strengthen the country’s healthcare infrastructure by providing a mechanism for conducting and collaborating on healthcare research, and for improving research skills in the country’s current and future healthcare workers.
Research and Data Intelligence Support Center
The first initiative out of Khalifa University’s CMHS is the Research and Data Intelligence Support Center (RDISC), created to ramp up the UAE’s ability to conduct pioneering research in the field of healthcare.
The new RDISC was developed in response to the UAE’s efforts to support health research, which was explained in the report “Development of a National Research Strategy for the UAE,” presented in May 2020 by Monash University Australia on behalf of the UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention.
The RDISC aims to train researchers in relevant areas of health research; to support these researchers with the methodological infrastructure required; and to provide high-end computing capabilities to prepare health data for sophisticated research.
In this way, the Center will help to close the gap in the UAE’s health sector by providing the required infrastructure and building the necessary competencies needed to leverage the vast and diverse range of health data available for research in the UAE.
The Center will also serve as the education, training and support hub for health research in the UAE, allowing its collaborators and partners to achieve health research excellence.
The RDISC will enable Khalifa University to engage in meaningful collaborative work locally, regionally and globally.
The KU Certificate in Clinical Research (KU-CCR) Training Program
The second initiative is a high-quality, comprehensive, and internationally competitive training program in clinical research designed to train medical doctors, nurses, allied health professionals and anyone interested in clinical research.
Most modern healthcare professionals are mandated to have the skills and competencies necessary to understand, interpret, discuss, and perform clinical research. However, most standard training programs do not provide these skills and competencies regularly, and the absence of these core abilities in healthcare providers has become a critical problem.
The KU Certificate in Clinical Research (KU-CCR) training program is designed specifically to develop these clinical research skills and competencies and meet the need for such training.
The KU-CCR program will specifically provide graduate medical students, also known as residents, with the building blocks needed to perform clinical research. It will do this by giving students a real-world research problem to solve. The aim is to give students the competencies to do research as lead investigators or co-lead investigators for complex projects.
In its first iteration, the program will train residents of the Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (SEHA), which will in turn allow SEHA to receive accreditation from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. The training will elevate SEHA’s residents to an unparalleled level regionally and globally.
Through these initiatives, Khalifa University’s College of Medicine and Health Sciences is carrying forwards its founding mission to enhance the healthcare ecosystem of Abu Dhabi and the UAE, while helping the country become a global leader in health research.
Erica Solomon
Publication Senior Specialist
15 March 2021
