Umm Al-Qura University signed early this week a strategic partnership with ICC Solutions & Communications Company to provide medical students at the Umm Al-Qura University with virtual, yet realistic training experiences, using state-of-the-art clinical simulation software. For the first time in the history of Saudi universities, students will be able to examine, assess and apply their medical skills on virtual patients, based on real life cases, to help them master their education and bridge the gap between theory and practice. Under the agreement, ICC will provide complete and round the clock technical support and will also provide UQU with the latest updates as released by the parent software company. Dr. Waleed Abu Al-Faraj, president of Umm Al-Qura University, said: “The clinical simulation program, provided by ICC Solutions, is one of the highly advanced educational software that can provide several virtual medical cases, allowing researchers and medical students to examine and study different illnesses.” Dr. Abu Al-Faraj further confirmed that with this agreement, Umm Al-Qura University is the first in the GCC and Middle East to adopt this program for medical students in their fourth year or higher, indicating that Harvard and John Hopkins Universities in the US, also provide this program to train their students. Eng. Akram Elias, ICC vice president, said: “The technology behind clinical simulation will have a positive impact on medical students across Saudi universities, as well as on doctors and hospitals as it simulates real life cases on virtual patients.” “The program further provides sophisticated and advanced analytical and critical thinking tools, enabling students, doctors and professors to customize to various target audience and generate medical reports to evaluate performances,” he further siad. “Undoubtedly, physicians and specialists are highly interested new and advanced technologies and medical programs that contribute to the sector by raising the level of healthcare services in the Kingdom. Such programs eliminate the time consuming tasks of finding patients and help enhance clinical skills without putting patients at risk,” he added.
