InSight: Demand for medical education in the UAE

Colliers estimates that there will be a gap of around 15,000 nurses and allied health professionals in Abu Dhabi and 6,000 physicians and 11,000 nurses in Dubai by 2030. Mansoor Ahmed, executive director, MEA at Colliers, looks at the challenges and opportunities for expanding medical education in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

One of the key, yet often ignored, requisites to providing quality healthcare service is the availability of human capital.

“Without the availability of qualified and specialised human resources, even the best medical facilities with the most advanced medical equipment are not enough,” said Ahmed.

As the region accelerates towards construction of a healthcare infrastructure that improves access to care, demand for medical professionals scales exponentially.

Moreover, with the changing context of health systems, the growing burden of chronic diseases, an ageing population, increasing patient expectations and rapid advances in treatment innovation and technology, the way health services are delivered is changing. This is leading to a corresponding change in the human skill set required to cater to the population’s current and emerging healthcare needs.

Number of physicians and nurses per 1,000 population

Physician and nurse density in the UAE and KSA per 1,000 population is higher than the GCC countries’ average. Nevertheless, it is significantly lower than international benchmarks with developed healthcare systems.

Egypt has one of the Middle East’s lowest ratios of healthcare workers per capita. “While many physicians graduate from Egypt, the number of physicians practicing in the country is very low due to the brain drain of high-quality doctors to the GCC and the Western countries,” said Ahmed.

United Arab Emirates – Key Healthcare Indicators

Demand for healthcare professionals in the UAE 2030

Healthcare workers are the core foundation of any health system, and competent skilled health professionals are a prerequisite for the provision of coordinated/integrated health services – especially for chronic care conditions.

Despite a remarkable increase in the UAE’s healthcare workforce, there is still a shortage of trained physicians/nurses, particularly local professionals. Gaps in the workforce do not only pertain to doctors but also to nurses and other paramedical staff who make up the bulk of the healthcare labour force.

Physician and nurse density in the UAE at 2.9 and 6.4 per 1,000 population respectively is higher than the GCC countries’ average. Again, it is significantly lower than international

benchmarks with developed healthcare systems. There is also an imbalance in the distribution of doctors and nurses within the UAE, with Abu Dhabi having the highest ratio of doctors and nurses to population.

Gap analysis for healthcare professionals 2030: Abu Dhabi and Dubai

Conclusion

“As the region’s healthcare sector increasingly adopts new medical technologies, demand is shifting from a workforce with traditional skill sets to one with advanced medical education,” said Ahmed. “The emergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI), data analytics, robotic sciences and genome sequences requires the medical industry’s workforce to continuously enhance its capabilities to take advantage of these new specialised positions. Demand for more medical education institutions is increasing.”

There is a growing tendency to create clinical pathways and affiliations with international medical schools to keep abreast of latest innovations in the medical sector, he notes. And here is the challenge.

“Offering dual degrees/certificates with international medical institutions opens the door for local staff to migrate and practice in the international markets where a global shortage of medical staff underpins demand,” he said.