Junior Caregiver Program gave high school students first-hand experience at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi

30 pupils gained valuable insight into different hospital departments

Following the success of last year’s initiative, Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi launched its second Junior Caregiver program to give 30 high school students the opportunity to gain first-hand experience in the healthcare industry. 

The two-week program enabled top performing students to observe the workings of a range of different departments within the hospital, including Clinical Operations, Pharmacy, Nursing, and Administration, as they rotated throughout the facility to discover which aspects interested them most. 

Participating students in the program came from Abu Dhabi based Applied Technology Schools, Aldar Academies, and the American Community School of Abu Dhabi, with the majority of those who took part being UAE Nationals. 

“The Junior Caregiver program is designed to encourage more young people to consider a career in healthcare and enable them to experience the challenges and rewards of life at a hospital. This initiative is part of our commitment to the development of healthcare, in line with Abu Dhabi’s Economic Vision 2030. By encouraging more UAE Nationals to become further educated about these opportunities, we believe that this will create a positive outcome not just for the industry, but also for the overall health of the UAE,” said Saood Al Hameli, Senior Emiratization Director at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi. 

Shamsh Al Amimi, a student who participated in the program last year, said: “It was a truly unique experience that gave me exposure to the various clinical institutes of the hospital. During my time at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, I found that I was most passionate learning about Psychiatry. It was very exciting for me to learn by working closely with the medical team and has helped me to set my sights on becoming a Psychiatrist in the future.” 

The Junior Caregiver program is part of Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi’s wider academic and development program, which aims to support healthcare professionals at all stages of their careers – from interns and students entering healthcare through to practicing physicians and surgeons. 

The hospital was officially designated and licensed by the Department of Health as a research and teaching facility in 2017, a key moment in its journey to become a pioneering Academic Medical Center in the region. 

Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi is part of Mubadala’s network of world-class healthcare providers, which work together to address the emirate’s most pressing healthcare needs.