HMC official bestowed with first-ever Physician International Award

Dr Abdullatif al-Khal, deputy chief medical officer and director ofmedical education, Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), has been presentedwith the first-ever Physician International Award. He was honouredduring a ceremony held in Florida, US, as part of the AccreditationCouncil for Graduate Medical Education’s (ACGME) annual conference. The award was created to honour an individual who has made outstandingcontributions toward ensuring and improving the quality of graduatemedical education for physicians in training.  Dr al-Khal received the award from Dr Thomas Nasca, president of ACGME, aUS-based organisation that accredits hospitals and medical centres withthe aim of creating a safer and higher quality training environment fordoctors in their residency and fellowship years. Five fellowshipprogrammes and 14 residency programmes at HMC have been accredited bythe ACGME-I, the international arm of the ACGME. HMC is the firsthealthcare organisation outside the US and Singapore to achieve ACGME-Iaccreditation; additional residency and fellowship programmes will goforward for accreditation in 2018 and 2019. “Dr al-Khal has contributed to international accreditation efforts onvarious levels,” said Dr Diane M Hartmann, chair of the ACGME AwardsCommittee and a member of the ACGME Board of Directors.“He was instrumental in bringing ACGME International accreditation toQatar, helping to achieve HMC’s vision of providing high-qualitytraining programmes for its physician trainees.  He has also contributedactively to the accreditation community, serving as an inauguralinternational member of the ACGME-I Review Committee International,”added Dr Hartmann.“HMC’s acting chief medical officer Dr Abdulla al-Ansari stated that thewhole Corporation is proud of this achievement and the wider clinicalteam in HMC should also feel honoured by this success. “I wouldencourage all HMC staff to engage in their work with the same passionand drive as Dr al-Khal. For many years, Dr al- Khal has been a greatadvocate for medical education and training that cultivates approachesto healthcare in which quality of care and patient experience arecentral,” Dr al-Ansari added.Each year HMC accepts approximately 150 new residents to its 21residency programmes. At any given time, upwards of 700 residents areworking across HMC’s network of hospitals. Over 300 fellows arecurrently part of more than 60 HMC-sponsored fellowship programme.