UAEU opens Medical Simulation Centre to advance medical education, clinical training

Zaki Anwar Nusseibeh, Cultural Adviser to His Highness the President of the UAE and Chancellor of the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU), officially opened the UAEU Medical Simulation Centre, in the presence of Prof. Ahmed Ali Alraeesi, Vice Chancellor of UAEU, and members of the University’s senior leadership.

The opening marks a significant step in advancing medical education and clinical training at UAEU and strengthening the integration of advanced technologies into the preparation of future healthcare professionals.

The UAEU Medical Simulation Center provides an integrated educational and training environment designed to deliver safe, immersive, and technology-enabled clinical experiences. It allows students and trainees to practise clinical skills and manage realistic scenarios without placing patients at risk, while strengthening clinical competence, teamwork, communication, clinical decision-making, and patient safety.

Occupying approximately 4,000 square metres across two floors, the centre features five dedicated simulation suites covering major clinical specialties: the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Emergency Department (ED), Obstetrics & Gynecology, Operating Room (OR), and Pediatrics. It also includes an immersive simulation room, a Virtual Reality (VR) room, 24 OSCE examination rooms, eight debriefing rooms, four lecture rooms, three multipurpose rooms, a Master Control Room, and Standardized Patient (SP) facilities.

The centre is equipped with high-fidelity patient simulators, audiovisual recording and observation systems, simulation control technologies, virtual reality technologies, and specialized equipment designed to support realistic clinical environments and structured debriefing.

Approximately 700 undergraduate medical students across Years 1–6 are among the centre’s key student beneficiaries. Since the beginning of 2026, the center has supported more than 250 educational activities, reaching approximately 9,000 learners and generating more than 22,000 learner contact hours, demonstrating its substantial educational capacity and reach.

The center supports a broad range of education and training activities, including clinical skills education, simulation-based learning, OSCEs and clinical assessments, acute care simulation, capstone and advanced clinical training activities, Standardized Patient-based education, simulation instructor development, professional development and healthcare training, specialized workshops and training programs, as well as educational research and simulation innovation.

Through its controlled simulation environment, learners are able to repeatedly practice clinical skills, manage complex and high-risk situations, communicate effectively, and work within multidisciplinary teams. Simulation also enables learners to learn from errors and receive structured feedback without placing real patients at risk, directly contributing to the development of clinical competence and enhanced patient safety.

The centre also provides infrastructure for educational research in simulation effectiveness, assessment, standardized patients, immersive learning, and other innovations in healthcare education.

The UAEU Medical Simulation Centre is currently progressing through the Society for Simulation in Healthcare (SSH) accreditation process, with the formal review and site visit scheduled for October 2026.

The centre is also developing collaborations and partnerships with healthcare and academic organisations to expand simulation-based education, professional development, research, and external training opportunities.

The centre reflects UAEU’s continued commitment to modernising healthcare education through an integrated environment that brings together education, training, assessment, research, and innovation. By combining high-fidelity clinical simulation with immersive and virtual reality technologies, it supports the preparation of highly competent healthcare professionals equipped to meet the evolving demands of clinical practice and the healthcare sector.