Penn Medicine announced a partnership with American University in Dubai to establish a school of medicine in the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday.
AUD launched its alliance with Penn Med to offer an MD program incorporating United States medical education practices in the United Arab Emirates, with a focus on health care priorities. The program aims to establish a hub in Dubai for medical education, research, and innovation, according to AUD President Kyle Long.
“Today marks a historic moment with the project launch of the first-of-its-kind American medical school in the UAE,” Long said at a ceremonial partnership signing on Sept. 16. “This alliance supports the nation’s ambition to become a global leader in health care … while creating a lasting impact on communities across the region."
Also in attendance at the ceremony were Penn President Larry Jameson; Glen Gaulton, the vice dean and director of the Center for Global Health at Penn Med; Elias Saab, AUD’s executive vice president; and various government dignitaries, industry partners, and medical and academic leaders.
Jameson emphasized the benefits of the partnership, noting that the establishment of the medical school would elevate AUD’s global ranking and Penn’s reputation — and “enrich” the future of health care and education.
“May this partnership stand as a lasting symbol of our dedication to building bridges, advancing knowledge, and creating new pathways for human flourishing,” Jameson said.
In a statement to The National, Gaulton stressed the importance of increasing the number of trained doctors in the United Arab Emirates, given the nation’s rising population and current reliance on overseas medicine.
“Hopefully then [students] would stay for the residency [programs] and hopefully stay longer term to build their whole lives and careers here,” Gaulton told The National. “That breeds a continuance of excellence [and will have a] dramatic effect on improving health care.”
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He noted the alliance was just one of Penn Med’s various global initiatives, of which over 60% focus on enhancing medical education to strengthen health systems.
In 2018, Penn Med entered an alliance with Vingroup to create undergraduate and graduate medical training programs in Vietnam, similar to the AUD-Penn Med alliance announced on Tuesday.
Gaulton described the alliance as a continuation of this work, aiming to develop a medical school that would incorporate many of the “distinctive” programs established at Penn. This includes its use of new medical developments in artificial intelligence and virtual reality, which he noted could rapidly revolutionize medical practice in the United Arab Emirates within a decade.
The school will bring “Penn’s legacy of excellence” to Dubai and help AUD “become a regional leader in healthcare innovation.”
“Working with Penn is humbling and inspiring. … We wouldn’t be doing this if we didn’t think it was going to have a transformational impact,” Long said.
