UAE doctors need less experience

In a move by the government the system encompassing the full spectrum of health protecting, promoting, sustaining and restoring services across the territory of the Emirate have been relaxed. Now Doctors and Healthcare Assistants looking to practice need one year’s less experience than before, according to new rules issued by the emirate’s health authority. These changes in Personal Qualification requirements mean that entry-level doctors now require only two years of experience to obtain a license to work, which is one year less than the earlier norm of three years experience. Healthcare assistants with relevant bachelor’s degrees are only required to train as an intern for one year under the new system, rather than two years as before. 'The changes are an important step towards filling staff shortages in hospitals, and enticing more Emiratis to work in the sector', the Health Authority Abu Dhabi said. “It is our hope that these updates will assist in filling capacity gaps that lie in the healthcare sector,” said Ali Obaid Al Ali, Director of Health Regulation at HAAD. The UAE is among a number of Gulf countries which is promoting Emiratisation in various sectors including health care, as has recently been done in Saudi Arabia. Along with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, the UAE is building hospitals, clinics and other facilities to cater for an increasing number of Gulf residents seeking care at home rather than abroad. The UAE health ministry says just one in 25 nurses is Emirati, even though the ratio should ideally be one in four. Any updates to the requirements for medical staff, which are reviewed every two years, are based on ‘Emiratisation’ and commitment to international standards.