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Quality Assurance & Institutional Effectiveness
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SDG 03 - Good Health and Well-being
2025/2026
In 2025/2026 Gulf Medical University (GMU) advanced SDG 3 – Good Health and Well-being through free community health screening, public health awareness campaigns, health research, the training of future health professionals and support for student and staff well-being. GMU was ranked 64th in the world for SDG 3 in the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings 2026.
Community Health Screening and Outreach
GMU students and faculty delivered free health screening, first-aid training and oral health care to workers, recruits, people of determination and children, usually in partnership with Thumbay University Hospital (TUH) and government bodies.
On 30 June 2026 the College of Medicine joined a Heat Exhaustion Prevention Initiative with TUH, the Ministry of Health and Prevention (MOHAP) in Ajman, Ajman Municipality, Ajman Police and the Umm Al Moumineen Women’s Association. Faculty, students and interns screened about 1,000 workers, including delivery riders and municipality staff, for blood pressure, obesity and cardiovascular risk, checked their oral health and gave personal health advice.
College of Medicine Leads Community Health Initiative to Protect Workers from Heat-Related Illnesses
On 8 June 2026 medical students and interns screened more than 300 National Service recruits in Mushairif, Ajman, with MOHAP Ajman, TUH and the Thumbay Institute of Population Health, measuring BMI and blood pressure and giving nutrition and lifestyle advice. On 17 May 2026 the “Screen Today, Stay Healthy Tomorrow” campaign at Ajman Coop offered free blood pressure and BMI checks and counselling to 62 residents, and on 27 February 2026 about 100 visitors to the Dakaken Ajman event received free health checks.
At the Special Olympics UAE Games in Abu Dhabi on 6–8 June 2026, which brought together more than 1,000 athletes of determination, physiotherapy students delivered Fit Feet foot screening and the Optometry department supported the Opening Eyes vision screening programme, with a GMU faculty member serving as its Clinical Director.
GMU’s Physiotherapy Students Deliver Fit Feet Screening Services in Special Olympics UAE Games 2026
GMU’s College of Health Sciences Supports Special Olympics UAE Through Opening Eyes® Program
The College of Dentistry took oral health education to people of determination at the Manzil Center, Sharjah (7 October 2025), to students at the Special Needs Future Development Center, Dubai (17 February 2026), and to preschool children at Sunrise Academy, Ajman (11 June 2026). The College of Nursing and the Thumbay Institute of Population Health trained 110 factory workers at AIG Company, Ajman, in first aid on 6 February 2026.
Report on Community Engagement Program at AIG Company
Health Awareness Days and Campaigns
Students ran awareness campaigns linked to global health days, many of them in hospitals and health centres in Ajman, Sharjah and Dubai.
College of Nursing students marked World Mental Health Day (10 October 2025), ran a Breast Cancer Awareness programme at Al Qassimi Women and Children’s Hospital (13 October 2025) and supported World Prematurity Day at Latifa Women and Children’s Hospital (26 November 2025). They also held a diabetes session for staff at HARDCO Group, Sharjah (16 December 2025). In 2026 they organised a World Down Syndrome Day event for 20 children and their families (21 April) and World Health Day activities at the Madina and Hamidiya Health Centers, Ajman (29 April). World Kidney Day followed at Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed Hospital, Sharjah (1 May), then World Sickle Cell Day and Headache and Migraine Awareness Day at Dubai Hospital (8 July).
Community Engagement Activity: World Down Syndrome Day
The College of Pharmacy ran a World Cancer Day campaign (4 February 2026), a thyroid awareness poster competition (5 February 2026) and a One Health awareness event (30 April 2026). It also joined the World No Tobacco Day campaign at the Thumbay Pharmacy Patient Counselling Centre (31 May 2026). The College of Medicine held a World Cancer Day event (16 February 2026) and a five-part community lecture series on cancer prevention in May 2026.
GMU College of Pharmacy Participates in World No Tobacco Day 2026 Awareness Campaign
Health Research and Recognition
GMU students and faculty won research awards on health topics throughout the year. At the 13th Undergraduate Research and Innovation Competition (URIC 2026) in May, College of Medicine students took first place for research on insulin resistance in women with polycystic ovary syndrome. They took another first place for a study of cognitive health and healthy ageing in Ajman, and third place for work on raising HPV vaccine uptake through teachers.
Pharmacy students won eight awards at the Fourth Al Ain University Health and Biomedical Postgraduate Symposium (February 2026), the poster competition at ICPM 14 (January 2026) and a research award at DUPHAT 2026 (August 2026). Other honours included an Outstanding Research Excellence Award for Dr. Pallav Sengupta at ICASD 2026 and awards at the SGH Neuroscience and Women’s Health conferences. A second-place poster at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi linked vector-borne disease to climate change, and a Best Poster award came at the 3rd Iraqi Medical Conference. Master’s theses addressed dementia treatment, long-acting local anaesthesia, medicinal plants of the UAE and dental implant outcomes.
Training the Health Workforce
GMU prepared current and future health professionals through clinical training at home and abroad, interprofessional education and continuing education.
International clinical training ran in both directions. University of Iowa PharmD students completed a one-month clinical rotation at Thumbay University Hospital in January 2026. GMU pharmacy students completed rotations in ambulatory care at VCU Health in the USA and in oncology pharmacy in Egypt. Medicine pathway students joined simulation training at the Medical University of Lublin, Poland, in May 2026.
Iowa PharmD Students begin International Clinical Rotation at GMU/TUH Academic Health Center
Interprofessional education brought the professions together. Pharmacy, nursing and medicine students trained in joint clinical teams in Spring 2026, and pharmacy and medicine students practised prescribing together. Pharmacy and nursing ran vaccination training, and experts from five professions held a symposium on care after a heart attack.
For practising professionals, the College of Pharmacy ran Clinical Pharmacy Master Classes from March to June 2026 on vaccination, opioid stewardship, statins, heart failure and clinical research. The College of Nursing held critical care and renal care seminars with Sheikh Khalifa Medical City, and the College of Dentistry offered regenerative dentistry training. Faculty also shared expertise with the wider health sector, through an invited talk at Sheikh Khalifa General Hospital, Umm Al Quwain, and writing questions for an international cardiology pharmacy board exam.
To build the future workforce, more than 160 school students attended the MD Open House in July 2026, and others joined the “Aspire to Become a Doctor” and “Be a Dentist for a Day” programmes.
Student and Staff Well-being
GMU ran mental health and resilience sessions for its own community. These were a workshop on reducing burnout among students and faculty (23 January 2026), an international webinar on how stress affects oral health (17 March 2026), and a Student Well-being Center session on building resilience in times of crisis (9 April 2026).