The Department of Health Professions Education (HPE) at the College of Medicine, Gulf Medical University (GMU) has been established in January 2023 in response to the evolving needs and expectations of the society, education, and medicine to support professionalism and scholarship in HPE. The Dept. of HPE reinforces the mission of GMU as a pioneer institution with the largest contribution of more than 60% of publications and scholarly output in HPE from all universities in the UAE over the past five years. The department, although located in College of Medicine, shall extend its scope of services to all the colleges of the university.
The Dept. of HPE aims to ensure quality assurance and academic standards in HPE and embrace the evolving trends in HPE such as students’ autonomy, lifelong learning, micro-credentials, the use of technology in learning and assessment. The increasing complexity of the curriculum has led to the recognition that all those who teach require some background and training in HPE.
There are four main domains within the scope of services of the Dept. of HPE, as follows:
Graduate & Doctoral Programs
The Dept. of HPE administers CAA-accredited graduate medical education programs such as Post-Graduate Diploma and Masters in Health Professions Education (DHPE/MHPE). We are planning to offer a doctoral degree (PhD) in HPE in collaboration with the Institute of Medical Education Research Rotterdam (iMERR) at Erasmus University (The Netherlands), which will be the first program in the region.
Support for Undergraduate Programs
We support undergraduate students at GMU to develop lifelong learning (LLL) skills and empower them with special training to teach their peers within the initiative of Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) across GMU colleges.
Educational Research
The Dept. of HPE acts as a hub for educational research through supporting faculty members and students to transform their ideas into research proposals and offer consultation and mentoring throughout the process of data collection, manuscript development and publication in peer-reviewed journals. The Dept. of HPE conducts monthly Journal Club in HPE to create a culture of awareness and evidence-based professional practice among GMU faculty.
Faculty Development
The Dept. of HPE shall play a major role in faculty development for leadership and capacity-building of teachers and assessors in HPE within GMU and beyond by planning and conducting workshops and seminars, to keep them abreast of the latest advancements in education.