EMR Regional Professional Diploma in Family Medicine

Strengthening Primary Health Care (PHC) through a family practice-based model of care is a critical foundation for achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC), as called for in SDG 3, objective 3.8. (1). However, the global scarcity of family practitioners, particularly in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR), is a serious task.The present yearly production rate of family physicians in the EMR is roughly 700, compared to a needed estimate of 21 000 physicians per year based on one family physician/1300 population and the current EMR population growth rate, reflecting the Region's severe lack of family physicians.

The 63rd session of the Eastern Mediterranean Regional Committee (RC63) endorsed Resolution EM/RC63/R.2 which requests Member States to “establish bridging programmes on Family Medicine for general physicians”. Consequently, WHO in collaboration with UNICEF, the American University of Beirut and the Eastern Mediterranean Region World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA), developed the initial proposal of a one-year programme entitled: “Regional Professional Diploma in Family Medicine (RPD-FM). 

Through a blended learning approach, the regional diploma was specifically intended to meet the demands of full-time employed general physicians. The programme was developed in accordance with the competences of Family Medicine as defined by WONCA, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), and the College of Family Physicians of Canada. The diploma, however, is not a replacement for full-time postgraduate programmes, which typically comprise of 3 to 4 years of structured training to create trained family physicians. It simply gives existing general practitioners the opportunity to improve their understanding of the core concepts and practice of family medicine in order to transition their existing practices into a family practice-based model of care and help countries in the EMR to solve the gap in family physicians’ production in a realistic time frame.

The WHO EMRO Regional Director has formulated a Steering Committee (SC) for promoting family practice in the EMR. The Steering Committee agreed on the outline of the 24-month Regional Professional Diploma in Family Medicine (RPD-FM) with two objectives: first, meeting the training duration of most accrediting bodies; second, opening career and training pathways to graduates through the option of completing the Arab Board training after graduation.

The Arab Board of Health Specializations endorsed the RPD-FM in the meeting of its Executive Board on December 18, 2021. Both ABHS and WHO have a generous plan to implement it in most EMR countries starting with the 12 countries that already have accredited family medicine training centers. Then it was suggested to gain the required competencies to make it 2 years to reach the target of three family physicians per 10,000 population by the year 2030.
The official launch of the Regional Professional Diploma in Family Medicine took place on Monday, 28 February 2022 from 01:00 to 02:00 pm (Cairo time), virtually via Zoom. The event was launched by Dr Ahmed Al-Mandhari, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, and Dr Omar El Rawas, ABHS Secretary-General, followed by three ministerial interventions reflecting the country successful achievements in Family Practice.

By Prof. Taghreed M Farahat
Regional President - WONCA EMR

Find more information and register here: http://www.emro.who.int/rpdfm/register.html