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​​​​​​​​​​​​MD-PhD Program  ​

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Overview

The M.D-Ph.D. program offers Saudi and resident students of medicine enrolment in a Ph.D. program at KAUST that features state-of-the-art educational and research facilities. The program is tailored to those who aspire to build their careers as physician scientists and become the leaders of tomorrow.

Objectives

The objective of the M.D.-Ph.D. program is to offer the most advanced educational and research facilities to Saudi and resident students of medicine aspiring to build careers as physician-scientists. M.D.-Ph.D. graduates will be future leaders in using a combination of a rich spectrum of clinical sciences/experiences and emerging knowledge from research areas in basic and translational sciences. This training will be pertinent to their respective fields of specialization. Producing a new generation cadre of clinician-scientists through the M.D.-Ph.D. program will greatly advance the goal of modernizing the health system based on direct laboratory investigations and rapidly capturing the emerging knowledge in health sciences and associated technologies, such as smart health and precision medicine tools and methods for immediate applications. This M.D.-Ph.D. program will produce future leaders in academic medicine in Saudi Arabia.

Future Perspectives

Clinicians with an M.D.-Ph.D. degree will lead the way in implementing smart-health technologies in healthcare. Ultimately, they will pioneer the paradigm shift to precision medicine. Moreover, these students will generate a growing interest in evidence-based and research-based approaches for patient care through educational activities, regular seminars and, above all, a demonstration of the benefits of their own research-based clinical practices. This type of program, which has been in place in the best universities worldwide, is the first of its kind in Saudi Arabia. It caters to highly motivated and performing medical students who want to build a solid background and training in biomedically relevant basic research and translate the advances in the understanding of the basic mechanisms of disease into clinical practice for the benefit of patients.

This program was established in collaboration with Alfaisal University. The program is currently only available to Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery graduates from Alfaisal University, but broader intake requirements are being developed. Collaboration with other in-Kingdom universities is planned.

For further information, please contact the KAUST Center of Excellence for Smart Health team at smarthealth@kaust.edu.sa.