In formal agreement with United Arab Emirates, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia shows value of diligence, diplomacy
For any health system looking to cultivate international relationships, dedication, patience and mutual respect is key, CHOP executive says.
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Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the United Arab Emirates have solidified their long-standing informal relationship with the signing of a medical services agreement to provide expert medical care for children in the UAE.
The agreement was signed by UAE Ambassador to the United States Yousef Al Otaiba and CHOP President and CEO Madeline Bell in Washington, D.C.
"CHOP offers an outstanding commitment to pediatric healthcare and provides high-quality services to patient families throughout the UAE," Otaiba said. "Today, we recognize CHOP as a pediatric health partner within our embassy and are thrilled to announce that the hospital will welcome the first UAE National Emirati into its residency program in July 2018."
Ruth Frey, executive director of International Relationships and Programs for CHOP said the relationship with the UAE goes back to 2010, when CHOP decided to formalize a global medicine department where they would bring in children from across the world for care. They'd done that informally before but the department was formalized in 2010. They worked with the UAE embassy in Washington D.C. and the country ended up as the first client for the program. The relationship helped CHOP build the department in terms of services and processes to get international patients into the country.
It was a mutually beneficial relationship from the start, Frey said, as the UAE is only about 47 years old as a country and independent state, so 10 years ago when CHOP started the program, the UAE's capacity to provide care, especially the infrastructure for complex care and high end medical services didn't exist and they were seeking partners to provide care that they couldn't perform in their own country
To date, the country only has one one children's hospital, Al Jalila Children's, which just opened last fall so there is a huge gap for the country and they are building both capability and capacity. Frey said.
The well-nurtured relationship has grown over time. In October 2017, CHOP and The Ministry of Health and Prevention of the United Arab Emirates entered into a memorandum of understanding regarding a pediatric specialty consultation program to provide clinical and educational services to MOHAP hospitals. In January 2018, the hospital signed a similar agreement with Al Jalila Children's to establish a dedicated neurology outreach program grounded in telemedicine.
CHOP works with 50 to 100 countries per year informally in a similar capacity to its dealings with UAE, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar. They also have a strong presence in South America and Mexico
The arrangement with the UAE , though, is unique both in its official capacity and in terms of what it provides outside of medical care.
"The difference being with this partnership we spend a lot of time in country doing education and building capability in country," Frey said. "We also recently have taken a UAE national into our residency program. They matched into our residency program. So this is now very much a bilateral partnership."
This is a first for CHOP, and Frey said they are committed to bringing in one resident a year from the UAE so long as they qualify through the national residency match program. The goal for these residents is two-fold. First, the hope is that they will go back to UAE and continue to build capabilities there. The other goal is when they finish that residency at CHOP they would then do a fellowship anywhere in North America and be board certified.
If they did their residency training in the UAE and then came to the U.S. to do a fellowship they wouldn't be board certified. They would have to graduate from a North American program.
CHOP's Visiting Physician Program serves the northern Emirates, with nine licensed CHOP specialists seeing patients for evaluations and working side-by-side with Emirati clinicians.
"What they notice is that the UAE is a very small country and they don't get the volume exposure that CHOP pediatric doctors get so while we may see 1,000 oncology cases a year, they may see 100 or 200," Frey said. "For any physician, if you don't see volume over time, you don't gain that expertise. You don't see the scenarios and the uniqueness of those illnesses. So by taking the volume and experience of our physicians and letting them work alongside the physicians in the UAE who do the same care, they get to transfer knowledge. Our docs come back very invigorated at the interest level and the intelligence of those physicians. It's a great partnership. CHOP physicians lead by education. They love to teach."
Frey said it's important to understand that this formal agreement is the result of years of hard work, maintaining a presence in the country and welcoming patients to CHOP for years. It didn't just get easily signed. For any health system looking to cultivate such relationships, that kind of dedication, patience and mutual respect is key.
"Showing the level of commitment over time is very important when working with the UAE. They value loyalty and consistency. I also think really understanding what a partnership is. It is easy to walk into another country and say 'we can help you.' But that never goes over well. What really goes over well is 'we want to learn with you about your families and your children as much as you can learn from us.'"
Twitter: @BethJSanborn
Email the writer: beth.sanborn@himssmedia.com
