MBRU Joins the Association of American Medical Colleges Visiting Student Program to Boost Educational Development of Budding Healthcare Professionals

University’s fifth-and-sixth-year students can opt to pursue electives in American medical schools affiliated with the AAMC

Dubai, March 9, 2021:  Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences (MBRU) has joined the Visiting Student Learning Opportunities (VSLO®) program, a service of the AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges), to engage medical students and faculty worldwide and expand their international mobility. The collaboration will allow MBRU students to pursue opportunities for clinical electives in reputable medical schools in the United States and other participating countries.

This agreement further boosts MBRU’s commitment of providing students with the best internationally available educational resources and elevates students’ understanding of global best practices in the healthcare sector. 

Professor Suleiman Al-Hammadi, Dean of the College of Medicine, said the partnership would grant students from both institutions valuable access to the latest developments in medical education and gain a better understanding of international best practices. 

“Maintaining an international perspective and incorporating relevant contemporary aspects that enhance the quality of healthcare education is very important to us. Through the collaboration with the AAMC, we are striving to broaden students’ skillsets, give them the chance to interact with leading practitioners, and gain precious clinical experience under high-quality supervision,” said Professor Al-Hammadi.  

Professor of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases at the College of Medicine, Abiola Senok, said that MBRU’s collaboration with the AAMC would provide students with a unique opportunity to expand their knowledge of healthcare systems and play an important role in enlarging their professional network. 

“The collaboration with the AAMC will open up a wide array of academic and clinical experiences that will greatly add to our students’ development as medical professionals. Students who opt to pursue their electives in affiliated institutions will benefit from interactions with the best minds in academic medicine, interact with leading researchers, and gain valuable experience from working with trusted data and cutting-edge tools,” she said. 

As part of the collaboration, fifth- and sixth-year students enrolled in the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) program will be eligible to apply for and undertake elective clinical rotations in medical schools affiliated with the AAMC, thus strengthening their profiles should they wish to pursue a residency program in the U.S. 

The agreement also enables MBRU to host students from AAMC-affiliated institutions in the future, providing U.S. medical students with valuable exposure to the growing healthcare sector in the UAE. 

The AAMC’s members are all 155 accredited U.S. and 17 accredited Canadian medical schools; more than 400 teaching hospitals and health systems, including Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers; and more than 70 academic societies. AAMC leads and serves over 179,000 full-time faculty members and 140,000 resident physicians. Consisting of a network of U.S. and international medical schools, the VSLO program provides an opportunity for medical and public health students to pursue clinical, global health, or research electives outside their home country.

“With ever-increasing globalization, medical students and institutions are seeking ways of incorporating global perspectives and experiences into their academic preparation,” said Robin H. Carle, senior director of the VSLO program. “We are very happy to welcome MBRU into the VSLO program and look forward to their full engagement.”

MBRU is committed to providing its students with training that conforms to the latest global standards and an educational program that is responsive to the evolving shifts in medical care regionally and globally.