HMSDC and MMI break ground on educational facility in Dubai
Prof. Frank Christ, MMI (left), Dr. Robert L. Thurer, HMSDC, and Saeed Al Muntafiq, DHCC (both with spades)
February 2006 - On Tuesday, February 28, Saeed Al Muntafiq, CEO of Tatweer , Dr. Robert L. Thurer, Chief Academic Officer of Harvard Medical School Dubai Center (HMSDC) and Prof. Frank Christ, CEO of LMU Munich Medical International (MMI) broke ground on a 350,000 square feet state-of-the-art educational facility at the heart of Dubai Healthcare City. The building will serve as the permanent headquarters of the HMSDC and will accommodate a 30,000 square feet state-of-the-art Human Simulation Center run by MMI.
Dubai Healthcare City commissioned MMI to plan the Simulation Center including space plan, design, training equipment and course development. The University of Munich was chosen to take charge of the project because of its leading position in the fields of emergency medicine and acute trauma care. The new building, scheduled for completion by the end of 2007, will be equipped with leading-edge technology. Highly qualified trainers will teach physicians, nurses, allied health professionals and the lay public. Training elements will include basic training (Basic Life Support, Advanced Cardiac Life Support, first aid etc.), skills training, computer based learning through simulated scenarios, complex skill and team training using full-scale simulation and live-tissue training (animal surgery).
The whole building complex will be the focal point for HMSDC´s efforts to create a center of excellence for postgraduate medical education and life sciences research in Dubai. The facility will include a 300-seat auditorium, innovative teaching space with three 80-seat case method rooms, the above mentioned Simulation Center and the 30,000 square feet Maktoum Harvard Medical Library, which will be the most advanced collection of clinical and professional development resources in the region.
Saeed Al Muntafiq, CEO of Tatweer and Chairman of the Board, Dubai Healthcare City, said, ´This facility, which we anticipate will become a hub for medical experts in Dubai and beyond, is part of a long-term vision to create a sustainable medical education infrastructure for the United Arab emirates and neighboring countries.
Article published in an Arabian newspaper