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Al Noor Signs MoU with Leading US Hospital

ABU DHABI — Al Noor Hospital and Children’s Hospital Boston, US signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Thursday to develop an educational programme, including knowledge exchange and training of physicians in paediatrics.

The MoU was signed by Dr Kassem Alom, Managing director of Al Noor Hospital and Pamela Frank, director of International Health Services at Children’s Hospital Boston during the opening of the fifth International Conference of Al Noor Hospital (ICAN), ‘Paediatrics in General Practice — Towards Better Future’.

According to the agreement, both parties will undertake cooperative ventures that are mutually beneficial as well as the development of new initiatives that relate to training of doctors and second opinion patient’s consultation.

“The agreement is to collaborate education to further the clinical and scientific knowledge of paediatric care both at the Al Noor Hospital and throughout the Gulf region. Our goal has been to engage our physicians with their colleagues form this region to work collaboratively to improve healthcare,” Frank told Khaleej Times on the sidelines of the conference.

“Abu Dhabi has established itself as a hub of quality medical care and it’s quickly risen to be one of the most important health care cities in the Middle East,” added Frank.

Children’s Hospital is one of the largest and top paediatric medical centres in the US with approximately 22,600 in-patient admissions each year. It is also the primary paediatric teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School and is home to the world’s largest research enterprise.

As part of the education programme, Al Noor physicians will participate at a weekly lecture hosted by Children’s Hospital through tele-medicine (or tele-conference). The hospital will also benefit from the training of its physicians and nurses.

“We can send some of the paediatrics staff for training and Children’s Hospital members can come to Abu Dhabi to train our staff on the ground and to look at difficult cases,” said Dr Alom.

Noting the importance of physician-to-physician dialogue, especially when it comes to second opinions, Frank said this is a good opportunity for both parties to connect and have equal exchange of knowledge.

Although not defined in the agreement, Frank said Children’s Hospital may also lend support to Al Noor hospital in some difficult cases.

Dr Alom said the UAE in general needs specialists in paediatric diseases such as experts in juvenile diabetes, cardiology, genetics and prenatal care. “We need experts in genetics before prenatal care,” he stressed. “We have very good paediatricians but we lack sub-specialities,” he added. “Of course, we have to hire specialised doctors on these diseases, but the short-term solution is to send staff for training,” Dr Alom concluded.

Childrens’ Hospital does a lot of educational outreach throughout the Middle East and has been working with a number of hospitals in the region including those in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Lebanon and Jordan.

olivia@khaleejtimes.com