Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) was recently recognised for its commitment to patient care and safety, and for its graduate medical education, at an award ceremony which also honoured Dr Abdullatif Al Khal, HMC Deputy Chief Medical Officer and Director of Medical Education, as the first recipient of the Physician International Award.

The award was presented to Dr Al Khal during a ceremony held in Florida, USA, as part of the annual conference of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). Dr Al Khal is the first-ever recipient of the prestigious award, which was created to honour an individual who has made outstanding contributions towards ensuring and improving the quality of graduate medical education for physicians in training. The award was presented by Dr Thomas Nasca, President of ACGME.

ACGME is a US-based organisation that accredits hospitals and medical centres for safer and higher quality training environment for doctors in their residency and fellowship years. Five fellowship programmes and 14 residency programmes at HMC have been accredited by the ACGME-I, the international arm of the ACGME. HMC is the first healthcare organisation outside US and Singapore to achieve ACGME-I accreditation. Additional residency and fellowship programmes will go for accreditation in 2018 and 2019.

Dr Diane M Hartmann, Chair of the ACGME Awards Committee, said Dr Al Khal was chosen because of his exemplary contribution to preparing physicians to deliver safe, high-quality medical care.

HMC Acting Chief Medical Officer Dr Abdulla Al Ansari said the award further validates HMC’s commitment to patient safety and high-quality healthcare.  He described Dr Al Khal as the ‘driving force’ behind efforts to ensure that HMC residents and fellows receive the training and education needed to provide their patients with the very best care.

Each year, HMC accepts an average of 150 new residents to its 21 residency programmes. At any given time, more than 700 residents are working across the network of hospitals under HMC. Over 300 fellows are currently part of more than 60 HMC-sponsored fellowship programmes.

For more information, visit the HMC website at hamad.qa.