The Virtual Medical Academy (VMA) in Saudi Arabia has cemented its position as the leading provider of continuous professional development among healthcare professionals in the Kingdom. The Covid-19 pandemic, in particular, has underscored that quality of life is closely related to the health of individuals and societies, and rightly one of the priorities of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s 2030 vision
Dr. Khaled Abdel Hamid Shahat, Founder & CEO of the Virtual Medical Academy, said that continuous development of knowledge and skills of qualified health practitioners to deal with different variables and evolving crises is an important enabler of individual and community health. To keep pace with a fast-changing healthcare environment and develop the required expertise, healthcare practitioners require constant access to up-to-date information, supported by research.
“Professional development and training contribute to enriching the quality of the entire healthcare system,” Dr. Shahat emphasized. “At the Virtual Medical Academy, we organized more than 140 virtual events for more than 200,000 health practitioners in the Kingdom in just a span of four months, together accounting for two million hours of e-learning. We believe that equipping our frontline healthcare workers with the best resources for their effectiveness is critical, and is as much a contribution towards societal safeguarding as towards individual and professional enrichment.”
“The current global crisis has played a key role in accelerating digital transformation across sectors, and has proven the effectiveness of e-learning. By adapting to these trends, the healthcare sector was able to train larger number of healthcare professionals more effectively, efficiently, and frequently, and has laid the foundation for continued virtual and integrated education in the post-pandemic phase”, he added.
“Our commitment is to contribute to the realization of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 and the government’s Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects such as the ‘Shareek’ initiative of His Highness the Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman. We partner with various entities in the fields of healthcare, including governmental institutions, academic entities, and private companies, bringing them virtual education tools and virtual training programmes to empower healthcare practitioners. The primary intention is professional development, and scientific and specialist knowledge-sharing, resulting in improved quality-of-life and a better-served community, and acceleration towards the realization of the Kingdom’s vision. ”
Today, the Virtual Medical Academy is regarded as the leading virtual education and training entity in the Saudi healthcare sector. More than 270,000 Saudi healthcare practitioners are registered on this platform, representing more than half of all healthcare professionals working in the Kingdom. Building on this adoption rate, the academy is poised to become the single most prominent enabler and leader in this critical field in the next few years.
Since its inception in 2013, the Virtual Medical Academy has run a sophisticated and integrated interactive digital platform for specialized, professional healthcare education and training, which is constantly reviewed and developed by a competent internal team. As the first accredited body for e-learning in the health sector, the academy also encourages the culture of e-learning in the healthcare field. The Virtual Medical Academy has collaborated with the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties, the relevant legislative body, to develop accreditation regulations for e-learning.
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