The shortage of UAE nationals in the health sector

The education and health sectors are very important indicators of a country’s development, as these two sectors provide a sign  of the living conditions and environment each country’s government is trying to present to its people. As a result, it gives a view of how developed the countries are. This paper will focus on the health sector, however; its main focus will be about the doctors who are providing this service in the UAE.

There were around seven hospitals and twelve health centers when the UAE federation was established in 1971 compared to 65 hospitals and more than 150 health centers around the UAE last year. Furthermore, one of the main focuses of the UAE government vision 2021 is to continue the improvement strategy of the health care and increase the ability of the health service in the UAE to reach everybody anywhere in the country with the latest health care.

To provide all of these and more, all these hospitals and health centers are equipped with the latest health equipment and well qualified doctors and nurses to provide a high quality health care for the nationals and residents of the UAE. However, there is a serious problem when we compare the UAE national doctors with the expats. In an interview with The National newspaper (2004) Dr Ali Shakar, Secretary-General of the Emirates Medical Association and Assistant Director of Rashid Hospital for Medical Affairs said: "Today there are no more than 500 UAE national doctors working in the UAE but that number is growing steadily. Compare this figure to just ten UAE national doctors working in the UAE in the 1970s. National doctors account for no more than eight to nine per cent of practicing doctors but this figure must be seen in the context of the size of the UAE national population compared to expatriates”. Last year ; in Abu Dhabi, only 8 to 10 per cent of doctors and nurses are Emirati, said Zaid Al Siksek, chief executive of the Health Authority - Abu Dhabi (HAAD).

The growth of UAE nationals in the health sector has been low compared with non-nationals working in the same sector. In 2010 there were only 1,145 UAE nationals working in the health sector compared to 14,943 non-nationals.  In 2011, the number of UAE nationals increased by approximately 16% only to be 1,328 nationals compared to 19,555 non-nationals. According to the government vision, the non-nationals were brought to the country so that they can transfer their knowledge as well as to train the UAE nationals to run and operate the hospitals in case of emergencies.

The growth of UAE nationals in the health sector has been low compared with non-nationals working in the same sector. In 2010 there were only 1145 UAE nationals working in the health sector compared to 1,4943 expats.  In 2011, the number of UAE nationals increased by approximately 16% only to be 1,328 nationals compared to 19,555 expats. According to the government vision, the non-nationals were brought to the country so that they can transfer their knowledge as well as to train the UAE nationals to run and operate the hospitals in case of emergencies.

If we look at the reasons causing this difference between UAE nationals and expat doctors and nurses in the health sector, we will find many factors, two main reasons are: culture and qualifications.

Normally, a doctor's medical career will require him/her to spend five years in training and around seven years in the area of surgery. Many Emiratis are unwilling to enter this career as they are not willing to leave their families to finish this period abroad. Furthermore, it is required form those who will enter the medical career to have a high qualifications and licenses from different medical authorities around the world to reach a level of acceptance in this career. On the other hand, the few number of UAE national doctors who are in the field prefer to work for the government rather than private sector for many reasons. "The UAE national graduates want to work in the public sector, where they get better training and continuous medical education opportunities abroad. Public hospitals invest in the young national doctors for the long term; private hospitals do not. May be this situation will begin to change in ten years or so and we would begin to see more graduates going to work at private hospitals," Dr Najib Al Khaja, cardio-thoracic surgeon at Dubai Hospital said.

 

Different solutions can be proposed to change the under-presentation of UAE nationals being doctors or nurses in the UAE health sector. The Emirtisation   initiative that the UAE government started in the early 2000’s could be implemented to help in solving this problem. More steps should be implemented by providing training hospitals and health centers to allow the newly graduated doctors to practice and get the needed experiences instead of traveling outside the country.

The situation might differ for nursing, since there are many colleges and universities within the UAE that offer degrees in nursing; however. There are some the families who do not allow their daughters to enter this profession because of the culture and the society's point of view.

The main solution to solve this lack of UAE national nurses is to create social awareness about this profession and try to provide a level of flexibility especially in working hours and support for the families to accept this profession and encourage their daughters to enter this field.

References:

http://www.uaeinteract.com/society/health.asp

http://www.thenational.ae/news/uae-news/health/emirati-doctor-shortage-leads-to-lack-of-trust

http://www.thenational.ae/thenationalconversation/editorial/encourage-emiratis-in-health-care-field

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/theuae/2004/May/theuae_May104.xml&section=theuae

The history of the UAE Transportation

The transportation in the Arabian Gulf in general and in the UAE especially started with camels being the only way but it took them sometimes months to reach their destination. The UAE's Bedouin used camels when they needed to move from place to place in search of food and water which started around 4,000 years ago as some of the archaeological sites at Umm al-Nar show. “The animal is famously known as the ship of the desert because of its walk, which is much like the motion of a ship at sea. Patience is one of its most observable features and camels are generally useful animals” (Salem, F. 2010). The people of the UAE kept depending on camels as their only way of transportation until around the end of the 1960s when the first bus was introduced for public use on 1969.

On the other hand, for people who used to live near the sea and around creek areas in some emirates like Dubai, Sharjah, and Ras Al Khaimah people used small boats called abra to move between shores. Even that is not really a long distance between shores, however; it was neither safe nor comfortable, especially for families.

With the declaration of the UAE as a country in 1971, the country witnessed a huge development that involved every part of the country and people’s life. Transportation has gone under lots of changes and developments to match and support the country’s new era.

Different types of transportation have been introduced to the country like cars, taxis, and airplanes to facilitate the modern life and to provide a comfortable and easy movement. Furthermore, the UAE developed a very high quality infrastructure to support all the modern transportation connecting all the emirates together. The transportation system kept on  changing and developing through introducing different new types of transportation like the water taxi in Dubai, and a buses network that connects all the emirates from Abu Dhabi to Fujairah .

The UAE kept on advancing and ensuring that all the modern and latest ways of transportation are introduced to the people of the country to provide them with comfortable and safe movement. Abu Dhabi considers being one of the fast growing airports around the world to many destinations serving around 12 million passengers in 2009. In competition, Dubai airport which has been the best airport for many years is serving around 50 million passengers through 90 gates.

One of the modern types of transportation is the metro which has been started in Dubai. The metro is connecting most of Dubai through two lines, and future plans are there for more lines to connect the whole city of Dubai and also the rest of the emirates. Furthermore, for more comfortable ways of transportation, the pink taxi has been introduced in different emirates like Dubai and Ras Al Khaimah to provide a service for women as part of the modern transportations service.

One of the latest modern developments in the type of transportation in the UAE and especially in Dubai is the tram, which the first phase will be completed by 2014. It is considered the world’s first tram that does not need electricity and it runs only using the ground power. 

Bibliography

Salem, F. (2010). Camels a key part of UAE's rich heritage. Gulf News.  Retrieved March 18, 2013 from http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/general/camels-a-key-part-of-uae-s-rich-heritage-1.603548

Camel as transportation - UAE Interact. Retrieved  March 20, 2013 from http://www.uaeinteract.com/history/e_walk/con_2/con2_18.asp

Guide to Dubai – Retrieved March 21, 2013 from http://www.guide2dubai.com/living/transportation-dubai.asp

Transportation in the UAE – Retrieved March 21, 2013 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Dhabi#Transportation

 

Reflection

Initially I was afraid of the topic summary because it's a new experience for me but the teacher encouraged to write simple sentences , not long ones .

I thought  long about how I could  summarize any article or topic; the teacher explained to us all how to do  the summary and what are the important things that we must mention, such as reading the subject carefully to  understand in general and the things that we must avoid mentioning in any summarize such writing of dates  and names.

In the first summary  the article was about the desert horsemen of the desert and it was fun and interesting at the same  time to follow the teachings of the teacher in how the summary and it was good as the first experience of  summary.

The second article was a very interesting summary because the subject was interesting for me ; it is about  Increasing literacy rates in UAE.   It mentioned the  percentage of teachers , male and female, the citizens in the country and  foreign teachers working in private schools and also the reasons for parents to teach their children in private schools

Abstract three was on the Arabian Gulf Sea, which is characterized since ancient times as an area for  natural pearls. A UAE company is to organize for citizens and tourists diving tours in the Gulf Sea in Jumeirah .

 

Tour provides insight into pearl diving

The Arabian Gulf was one of the largest natural diving economies in the world .Pearl diving was still in play in the UAE until the 1950s but faded away as less expensive pearls became commonplace.

To reconnect Emiratis and tourists with the once vibrant pearl-diving economy in the Gulf , Emirates Marine Environmental Group (EMEG) and Jumeirah Group have jointly formed a new pearl diving eco tour in waters off Palm Jabel Ali .

As Major Ali Saqar Suwaidi , president of EMEG ,says the proud tradition of pearl diving in the UAE may be gone but not forgotten and he also invited journalists from the Gulf News on a pre-lunch dhow tour and pearling dive to a secluded protected cove where the media learned the merits of fetching oysters from the sea bottom and safe back on board . The educational eco tour will complement existing natural history experiences already available in Dubai , Cawley , director for Sports and Leisure at Jumeirah Group said.