The National Institute for Health Specialties Board of Directors, chaired by H. E. Hussain Al Hammadi - the Board of Directors of the National Institute for Health Specialties Chairman and Minister of Education, held a virtual meeting yesterday, Tuesday 12-4-2022, in the presence of Their Excellencies representatives of health authorities: H. E. Dr. Hussein Abdul Rahman Al Rand - Assistant Undersecretary for the Public Health Sector, H. E. Dr. Jamal Al Kaabi - Undersecretary of the Department of Health Abu Dhabi, H. E. Dr. Youssef Mohammed Al Serkal - Director General of the Emirates Health Services, H. E. Dr. Marwan Al Mulla - CEO of the Health Regulation Sector at the Dubai Health Authority, and H. E. Mohammed Yousif Baniyas - Higher Education Advisor & Director of Commission for Academic Accreditation at the Ministry of Education, Dr. Ghanem Ali Al Hassani, Chair of The Local Scientific Committee and SEHA's Group Education and Research Director, Mr. Jamal Abdulsalam, CEO, Dubai Healthcare City, and Prof. Mohammed Hassan Al Qassim - the United Arab Emirates University representative. Dr. Mohammed Al Houqani, Secretary-General of the National Institute for Health Specialties, discussed during the meeting the most significant activities and achievements that took place during the first quarter of this year, which included the launch of the Institute’s services and the accreditation of 6 health institutions for training purposes: Tawam Hospital, Zayed Military Hospital, Sheikh Shakhbout Medical City, Sheikh Khalifa Medical City, Corniche Hospital, and Ambulatory Healthcare Services.

Institutional accreditation is considered the first stage in the process of the program accreditation, which qualifies trainees and graduates to obtain the "Emirati Board". During the meeting, the various activities were reviewed, namely: forming new specialized scientific committees in the fields of dentistry, bringing the number of scientific committees to 28 committees representing the different health sectors for the targeted health specialties during this year. The institute also conducted 25 workshops to raise awareness of institutional and program standards. During the meeting, it was announced that the institute had been accredited as a health qualifications body by the National Qualifications Center in the Ministry of Education, which qualifies it to accredit programs and issue health professional certificates and continuing professional education and certificates and diplomas.

Accordingly, the institute will be responsible for developing and adopting national professional standards for health qualifications to ensure the quality of approved health programs in educational institutions. The five-year strategic plan 2022-2026 was also approved, which includes strategic objectives to complete, build and strengthen institutional governance, enhance specialized programs, strengthen training structure, implement an accreditation system for specialized training, and develop the evaluation and measurement system.