Welcome Note from the Dean 

College of Medicine and Health Sciences

United Arab Emirates University

It is my pleasure to welcome you to the Second Competencies for Medicine and Beyond Conference (CMB 2025), hosted by the College of Medicine and Health Sciences at the United Arab Emirates University.

 This year’s conference reflects our commitment as a national institution to advancing medical education in ways that align with the UAE’s vision for a resilient, innovative, and future-ready healthcare system. At CMHS, competency-based transformation is not merely an educational trend—it is a strategic direction that shapes how we design programs, support our faculty, and prepare our students for the complex realities of modern healthcare.

 The conference brings together distinguished experts, educators, healthcare leaders, and partners from the UAE and abroad to explore innovations that matter to our academic mission: strengthening assessment systems, enhancing curriculum integration, elevating quality assurance, and leveraging digital transformation to support learning and patient care. These discussions are essential as we continue our efforts to modernize our curriculum, refine our assessment framework, and expand faculty development initiatives across the college.

 As you read the Conference Lead’s message, you will gain deeper insight into the educational philosophy and conceptual foundations guiding this year’s program. From the institutional perspective, I would like to emphasize that conferences like CMB 2025 play a vital role in shaping our long-term strategies—fostering collaboration, informing policy, and strengthening the collective expertise across our departments, clinical partners, and academic units.

 I extend my sincere appreciation to the scientific and organizing committees, our distinguished speakers, and all participants who contribute to making this conference a vibrant platform for knowledge exchange and professional growth. Your engagement helps ensure that CMHS remains a leader in medical education innovation within the UAE and the region.

On behalf of the College of Medicine and Health Sciences at UAEU, I warmly welcome you to CMB 2025. We hope this event enriches your understanding, inspires new collaborations, and supports the ongoing advancement of competency-driven education.

 Warm regards,

Prof. Fatma Al Jasmi

Dean, College of Medicine and Health Sciences

United Arab Emirates University

Message from the Conference Lead

It is my great pleasure to welcome you to the 2nd Competencies for Medicine and Beyond Conference, hosted by the College of Medicine & Health Sciences at United Arab Emirates University in Al Ain.
This conference was conceived with a clear purpose: to move from talking about competency-based medical education to truly living it in our curricula, our assessments, our learning environments, and our institutional systems. Around the world—and particularly in our region—there is a growing expectation that medical and health sciences programs will graduate practitioners who are not only knowledgeable, but also adaptable, compassionate, team-oriented, and digitally fluent. Meeting this expectation requires us to rethink how we design programs, how we assess competence, and how we use data and technology to drive continuous improvement.
At CMHS–UAEU, we are in the midst of an ambitious journey of curriculum reform, digitalization, and quality enhancement. We are developing integrated curriculum and assessment management systems, strengthening KPI- and accreditation-driven quality assurance, and embedding simulation, VR/AR/MR, and AI-enabled tools into teaching and learning. This conference is an extension of that journey and an open invitation for you to share, challenge, and co-create with us.
Over the coming days, you will hear from visionary leaders in competency-based education, accreditation and regulation, educational governance, and digital innovation. Our program brings together academics, clinicians, policymakers, students, and partners from the UAE, the region, and beyond to explore:
• How competency-based frameworks can be translated into practical, workable curricula.
• How assessment systems and KPIs can genuinely support learning, not just accountability.
• How digitalization, simulation, and emerging technologies can enhance—not replace—the human relationships at the heart of education and care.
• How leadership, governance, and culture can sustain meaningful, long-term change.
My hope is that this conference will be more than a series of talks. I hope it will serve as a platform for honest dialogue, shared problem-solving, and the formation of lasting partnerships. I encourage you to ask difficult questions, to bring your local context to the discussions, and to leave with concrete ideas you can implement in your own institutions.
On behalf of the organizing committee and the College of Medicine & Health Sciences, I warmly welcome you to Al Ain and to UAEU. Thank you for joining us, for investing your time and expertise, and for being part of a community committed to shaping competencies for medicine—and beyond.
I look forward to learning with you and from you during this conference.

Dr. Afaf Sulaiman Alblooshi
Chair, Department of Medical Education, CMHS–UAEU
Conference Lead, 2nd Competencies for Medicine and Beyond Conference