With clear vision to be the most trusted healthcare provider, with excellence in healthcare under the flagship of patient safety, Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Group has emphasized the importance of establishing an academic journal Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Journal under the umbrella of the newly launched academic affairs project in November 2017. The journal was established to enhance teaching, training, and scientific research for strengthening community service. It will act as a repository of knowledge which contributes to human and social development through research.

The establishment of the corporate academic affairs project was a milestone in moving education and research agenda. Six projects in Academic Affairs have been established to achieve its vision which are: Postgraduate Training Program (PGT), Undergraduate Training Program (UGT), Continuous Medical Education program (CME), Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), Research Center (RC) and Training Center (TC). This new journal will facilitate all the 6 projects under the HMG Corporate academic affairs through the following:

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  Announcing and recruiting candidates for The Postgraduate Training Program which enrolls up to 60 graduate residents in 14 programs; 12 residents and 2 fellowships. The HMG has been accredited by the Saudi Commission for Health Specialists (SCFHS) in pediatrics, medicine, Intensive Care Fellowship, Intensive Care Unit residency, Orthopedic Surgery, General Surgery, Anesthesia, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Emergency Medicine, Internal Medicine, Family Medicine, Cardiology Fellowship, Orthodontics, Endodontics and Prosthodontics. Additional three programs are expected for accreditation by 2020 including: Clinical Pharmacy, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Fellowship and Ophthalmology. To accomplish the academic/training component, the newly developed academic affairs has been recently working on recruiting at least three full-time academic consultants in each specialty to be dedicated mainly for postgraduate residents training.

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  Since the establishment of the Academic Affairs, clinical training has been viewed as a vital and integral part of the academic activities [1]. The corporate Academic Affairs has signed 11 agreements with governmental and private universities to train their students at Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Group facilities. The number of student trainees has risen by 46% between 2017 and 2018 (from 583 to 1079 student). Additionally, three diplomas have been developed and approved by the Saudi Commission for Health Specialists: Dental Assistant Program, Healthcare Assistant and Central Sterile Services Department Program (CSSD). These programs are offered for one year to prepare highly qualified graduates highly needed by the healthcare market in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).

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  CME is one of the core components of advancing healthcare in any organization, through advancing knowledge and improving skills of the health care professional. Interactive educational interventions have been given utmost considerations such as discussion groups, role play and case solving which have been found to be more effective than traditional educational methods. The newly launched journal will be a major vehicle for advancing knowledge and promoting research in HMG. The focus of HMG on CME activities is very evident through the 33% increase in number of activities and attendees between 2017 and 2018 (from 292 courses attended by 13,618 participants to 438 activities attended by 14,620 participant between 2017 and 2018).

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  CPR Center Accreditation in Basic Life Support (BLS) is a requirement by the SCFHS for every practicing Healthcare Providers (HCW) in KSA. The CPR Center is an international training center accredited by the American Heart Association as an international training center for BLS and Advanced Life Support courses (ALS). There has been 14% increase in CPR training courses between 2017 and 2018. A total of 5286 participants attended the CPR courses in 2018, while, only 4532 participants attended in 2017.

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  The HMG training Center has two major functions: Soft Skills and English Language. The English language section concerns miscellaneous English courses, medical terminology courses and conversation courses across HMG projects. Each course takes up to 3 months and classes are conducted 4 times a week. While the soft skills center are a cluster of productive personality traits that characterize one’s relationships in a milieu. These skills can include social graces, communication abilities, language skills, personal habits, cognitive or emotional empathy, time management, and teamwork and leadership traits. Again the number and trainee attending the English and soft skills courses have increased by 24% in the soft skills between 2017 and 2018.

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  When it comes to research in the Middle Ages the Arab and the Islamic civilization were the center of attention in many fields especially medicine “The canon of Medicine” was considered a crucial textbook in the west [2]. Also, based on a bibliometric analysis of research productivity in the Arab countries from 2003 to 2012 the research activities have been improving [3]. There is a significant improvement in researches, Egypt published 49.8%, the KSA 26.3%, United Arab of Emirates 11.5%, and Jordan 4.8% [3]. Saudi 2030 vision highlights the importance of research and increasing research outcomes [4].

The Research Center at Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Group was founded in April 2018 to oversee the research activities at Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Group. It was established to identify key areas of research based on the health care needs of the society, to help to develop the Saudi research activities which can meet with the 2030 vision on research and development, and to encourage staff to contribute to those prioritized areas of research.

The center also maintains the ethical standards of practice in medical research through Institutional Review Board (IRB) to protect both participants and researchers and ensure that interdisciplinary research is conducted in an appropriate and consistent manner. Therefore, a set of policies and procedures on research ethics, intellectual property and research application procedure have been developed. One of the big challenges the RC has faced is the creation of the IRB, which is a local committee in Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Group and goes under the umbrella of King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST). The main aim of this board is to review studies ethically and make decisions whether to approve or reject a study. However, all studies in Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Group are reviewed scientifically at the Research Center before they are submitted to the IRB. The IRB have reviewed 63 projects with 68% acceptance rate.

The cycle of research will not be complete without having the results of such research published after stringent peer review process. And to facilitate the process of publishing the HMG established a state of the art double blind peer reviewed journal covering all aspects of medical science with a world class, highly qualified geographically diverse academic editors and editorial board to cover the 6 WHO regions. The journal aims to be an essential reading tool for medical practitioners including clinicians, researchers, educators, managers, policy makers, and students from all over the world. The journals’ goal is to be a high impact medical reference for all academicians in Saudi Arabia and globally. In addition, HMJ will facilitate continuous professional development programs in research methodology, biostatistics and scientific writing for publication as a sense of duty towards community, professionals and students’ development.

HMG leadership puts healthcare excellence at the forefront when it comes to its vision and mission. And will spare no resource in achieving this goal through focus on staff development, higher education philosophy, learning and training as well as research and community services. The development of the HMJ is another example of this dedication and commitment to advancement of research and science. The journal will welcome high quality research from within KSA and abroad to achieve HMG vision and mission of healthcare excellence.