Dubai, United Arab Emirates, April 22, 2015: The department of medical education and the pharmaceutical services department at Dubai Health Authority, recently commenced a clinical clerkship program at Rashid and Latifa Hospital.

The clerkship program for students is in line with an memorandum of understanding (MoU) that was signed between DHA and the Dubai Pharmacy College.

Dr. Jamila Al Shaikh, Director of the Medical Education Department at the DHA, said: “This clerkship is in line with DHA’s strategy to provide more learning opportunities for Emiratis and to introduce them to the DHA’s system so that they consider future employment with us”.

Dr. Ali Sayed, Director of Pharmaceutical Services Department at DHA and chair of the program, said that the clerkship program is designed to guide trainees to gain proper understanding of pharmaceutical care concepts, to decide their choice of clinical specialty and to fulfill their responsibilities to patients and the society once they enter the medical sector.”

Dr. Ashraf Ahmed, Head of Academic Affairs Center at the DHA, said “The primary goal of the clerkship is to provide a learning environment which will help boost the confidence of students and help them think critically. It also presents an opportunity for them to apply their knowledge and skills regarding individualized pharmacotherapy planning, drug interaction, intervention and outcome evaluation.”

Clinical clerkship takes place for 14 weeks during the third and fourth semester. Students are assigned primarily for clinical rotations in different hospital departments of the DHA. During the program the students will be  observers, taking part in objective assessment (under supervision) and they form an integral part of the medical team.