College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences Expands Strategic Partnership with Medcare Hospitals

On December 15, a delegation from the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (COPHS), led by Professor Abeer AlGhananeem, Dean of COPHS, met with Medcare’s leadership at their facility in Sharjah to enhance the partnership. The AU delegation included Dr. Subish Palaian, Coordinator of the Office of Experiential Learning, Dr. Alaa Farajallah, Senior Instructor, Ms. Hind, and Ms. Hanan Almheiri, Clinical Training Instructors. Representing Medcare Hospitals were Ms. Sanitha Ron, Head of Human Resources; Ms. Akanksha Dicholkar, Chief Nursing Officer; and Mr. Atef Mahmoudi, Senior Manager of Human Resources. The meeting focused on aligning academic excellence with clinical practice needs and resulted in several key initiatives designed to enhance student learning, assessment, and employability. Among the agreed areas of collaboration are:

Partnership in student development: Academic and clinical experts from both institutions will collaborate on the student development by offering some soft skills training which will ensure their readiness for clinical settings.

Clinical assessment innovation: COPHS and Medcare will jointly develop an Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) program to standardize and strengthen clinical assessment methodologies.

Employment pathways: The partnership places strong emphasis on establishing direct career pathways for COPHS nursing graduates within the Medcare Group.
Expanded Clinical Training Network: Strategic planning is underway to extend student clinical placements across all six Medcare hospitals in Dubai and Sharjah starting in the upcoming academic semester.

Adjunct faculty appointments: COPHS is also considering the provision of adjunct faculty positions to Medcare hospital preceptors, a step aimed at extending and strengthening academic–clinical integration while recognizing the vital role of clinical educators.

Reflecting on the visit, Professor Abeer AlGhananeem stated:  The inclusion of all six Medcare hospitals into our network provides an invaluable opportunity for our students to experience a wider range of clinical placements. COPHS is deeply committed to enhancing partnerships with our MoU partners. Our goal is to provide our students with the best possible experiential learning and professional opportunities available in the modern healthcare landscape."