• 6/26/2022

    Doha, 26 June 2022: Under the patronage of Hamad Medical Corporation’s (HMC) Medical Education Department and in collaboration with the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), Hamad Dental Center recently organized an intensive training workshop consisting of two programs for HMC dentists. Held from 5 to 9 June at Bayt Al Dhiyafah in Hamad Bin Khalifa Medical City, the first preparatory program of the course aimed to help prepare HMC dentists to successfully complete the requirements for the College’s Faculty of Dentistry (MFD) membership examination while the second program was designed to help prepare dentists for the specialist Pediatric Dentistry Fellowship (FFD). The training course was held under the supervision of Dr. Ghanem Al-Mannai, Chairman of Dental Services at HMC.   

    Organized for the sixth time at HMC, the intensive training course was held in an in-person attendance format as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to recede. The course comes as part of an educational cooperation agreement signed between HMC and RCSI. This is the first cooperation between the prestigious Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and a healthcare institution in the Middle East, to provide an internationally accredited specialist fellowship program in pediatric dentistry. The program aims at providing specialized training in the field of pediatric dentistry for Qatari dentists who wish to continue their education and further develop their expertise and skills to meet the internationally approved standards. 

    Dr. Abdullatif Al-Khal, HMC’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer and Director of Medical Education Department, noted that HMC has entered into partnerships with several internationally recognized institutions in the field of medical education, training, and healthcare, which helped HMC to become an education hub in the region. The establishment of Hamad Medical Education Center has also contributed to HMC’s important role in medical education. The center works in accordance with international standards and attracts doctors and specialists from all countries in the region to join its courses and programs and obtain internationally accredited certificates.   

    “HMC works to ensure it continues to develop at the same rapid pace to strengthen its position as a leading, world-class healthcare provider. The Corporation will continue its efforts to transform into an academic health center based on three key pillars: healthcare, education, and research, providing cutting-edge facilities for healthcare, medical education, and research activities. The Medical Education Department at HMC will remain committed to strengthening our medical education portfolio as we strongly believe that Qatar’s population deserves to receive the best healthcare from the best doctors and healthcare professionals,” added Dr. Al-Khal.

    Dr. Ghanem Al-Mannai explained that organizing this intensive training course over the past six years comes as part of the efforts to develop national cadres of highly trained dentists and meeting professional development requirements for dentists through continuing medical education programs. “As part of its commitment to delivering high-quality healthcare to its patients, Hamad Dental Center collaborates with internationally accredited educational institutions to hold training programs for our dentists. We also offer the opportunity for dentists from the public and private sectors to join these training courses and obtain internationally accredited training certificates and we are seeing an increasing demand from local dentists to join these programs year after year,” said Dr. Al-Mannai.  

    Dr. Khalifa Ali al-Ansari, Vice-Chairman of the Hamad Dental Centre for Education Affairs, said: “This five-day intensive training program was attended by 83 dentists from both the public and private sector. The program is designed to help these clinicians refine their knowledge in all aspects of the dentistry profession. It aims to prepare members of our clinical teams to pass the admittance test for membership into the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (MFD examination). As part of the training, a group of professors from RCSI presented on a range of scientific subjects related to dentistry and dental surgery. At the end of the workshop, participants were able to obtain 19.25 CPD points”.   

    The dentists who have been enrolled in this program in recent years have achieved a high level of success in their MFD examination. Some have already joined the specialized Pediatric Dentistry Fellowship Program offered in co-operation with the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland. The second part of the MFD exam was held on 10 June with participation of 10 pediatric dentists from the public and private sectors to join the postgraduate pediatric dentistry fellowship program.

    Dr. Al Ansari explained that the internationally accredited RCSI pediatric dentistry fellowship program allows Qatari dentists to continue their postgraduate dental education in their own country without the need to travel abroad. This also allows them to obtain accreditation from a well-known international institution.   

    Dr. Jamal al-Abdullah, Chief of Pedodontics and Deputy Director of the Postgraduate Pediatric Dentistry Program at HMC, said the training included specialized workshops and has enabled six residents to prepare for the Irish Fellowship Diploma examination (FFD), with three of them scheduled to sit for the exams in November 2022. Another two dentists will be accepted into the program next year. “The internationally accredited Postgraduate Dental Education Program offered by HMC in collaboration with RCSI is in line with the guidelines of Qatar’s National Oral Health Strategy,” added Dr al-Abdullah.  

    Professor Albert Leung, Dean Elect of the Faculty of Dentistry, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, praised the level of service provided by the Hamad Dental Center and applauded HMC for its efforts to make the specialized training provided by his organization available in Qatar. “I am participating within a team of 11 faculty members in delivering the training program here in Doha to prepare dentists for the general fellowship and the specialist RCSI Pediatric Dentistry Fellowship. We are keen to ensure that this program is implemented in accordance with the same international standards that are applied for fellowship students in Ireland. We look forward to continuing our cooperation with Hamad Medical Corporation in the coming years to graduate more dentists from our fellowship programs,” said Professor Leung.