Evolution of the Dubai health authority's residency training program: A 25-year review, challenges and outcomes

BACKGROUND: The Dubai Residency Training Program (DRTP) is a structured postgraduate educational training program started on 1992 to improve healthcare in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) through education and training; align doctors’ training in the UAE with internationally recognized standards; deliver educational best practice; and achieve a balance between clinical service delivery and continuing professional development. The aim of this paper is to review the experiences, challenges and outcomes of the DRTP over the last 25 years. METHODS: All documentation relating to the DRTP was reviewed and reevaluated. RESULTS: The DRTP has become a very solid foundation; yet, one of the major challenges we are facing is containing the balance between the health service and education. Another challenge is that our capacity for training is limited, in spite of demand, we are not yet able to open all specialties needed in the UAE. Finally, there is a mandate to separate the educational body from service to better govern the education. CONCLUSIONS: The time has come, however, for the UAE to have its own medical specialty board. This would further support high quality, comprehensive specialty training to deliver the bespoke workforce required by the Dubai Health Authority. The concept of structured training where the resident knows what, when, and how to learn the required knowledge and skills is already established, and the UAE has the required numbers of highly trained professionals to form the board. Nevertheless, we should neither be complacent nor underestimate the challenges that remain to deliver the UAE specialty board.