(MENAFN- Arab News) Samar Al-Saggaf medical program director at Saudi Arabia's cultural mission in the US has said that the embassy intends to increase the number of doctors who receive training in the US in order to place the Kingdom among the top 5 medical training countries worldwide.
Saudi Arabia has sent approximately 1600 doctors to the US so far for training and 20 percent of that number have trained at one of the top 10 universities in the US.
During the recent Saudi-American Healthcare Forum Al-Saggaf said that the forum was the first of its kind and would produce initiatives capable of making Saudi Arabia an attractive location for medical tourism thanks to its advanced medical cities and its strong ideas of how to improve research and medical infrastructure.
She pointed out that the forum was attended by 74 doctors from the US as well as 20 Saudi doctors. The number of people who registered reached 1200 with the forum aiming to exchange knowledge and expertise in health care and also to establish an information network to facilitate communication between doctors. This will encourage innovative projects that serve citizens and help to develop the health care system as a whole.
Al-Saggaf noted that the development of the health care system in Saudi Arabia required strong medical knowledge and providing doctors with the latest research tools.
During the recent forum US diplomat Jimmy Kolker Clocker presented a paper regarding the spread of diseases in conjunction with Dr. Randall Burt executive director Huntsman Cancer Institute.
Dr. Tariq Madani of the Ministry of Health also took part in the event along with Dr. Maha Al-Mozaini scientist at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center.