مجلس التعليم » Health Education in the Sultanate of Oman

Foundation of Health Sciences Institutes

The Ministry of Health has consistently pursued the development of human resources through staff development, training and qualification programs, with Health Sciences Institutes affiliated to the Ministry constantly providing Health Institutions with national qualified cadres in the field of nursing and midwifery. The first Health Sciences Institute was rolled out in 1982. Today, there are (13) Health Sciences Institutes (5) at the Institutes Compound and (8) in the rest of the governorates), in addition to the Foundation Program Center.

Educational Program

Health Sciences Institutes currently offer an array of educational programs that fall under the following educational and training categories:

The Foundation Program introduced in the academic year 2011-2012. The program was designed according to the standards for foundation programs in the Sultanate.
Bachelor and diploma levels of Basic Education: Health Sciences Institutes currently offer (7) bachelor level programs for General Education Diploma holders. The programs were implemented in the academic year 2014/2015 (nursing, pharmacology, medical laboratory sciences, medical radiography, physiotherapy, oral health and health data management), in addition to the bachelor degree in orthodontics.
Post Basic Education (specialized): The program was designed to meet the needs of the Ministry of Health for specialized nursing cadres. Oman Specialized Nursing Institute offers (7) higher diploma level programs (nephrology nursing, neonatal and pediatric intensive care nursing, critical care nursing for older adults, health services management, psychiatric nursing, nurse midwifery and infection control nursing), in addition to two bachelor level programs in orthodontics (general and community health nursing).
Continuous development and training in the various medical assistance fields with the aim of providing medical cadres with the latest knowledge and developing their professional skills according to the functional requirements.

Health Sciences Institutes offer educational programs for bachelor and higher diploma levels. The past three decades were marked by significant developments in the educational process, qualitative growth of the number of institutes and improvement of the quality of educational programs. All programs were reviewed and developed to keep pace with the evolution of the Sultanate’s healthcare system so that students acquire the academic skills necessary to their learning process, skills development and performance level enhancement. Furthermore, these programs now comply with the standards adopted in similar programs offered by Regional and International Educational Institutions.

Outcomes of Health Sciences Institutes

Up until 2017, (13,432) graduated from Health Sciences Institutes with a Diploma (basic), while (3247) students graduated with a specialized Diploma (post-basic) and a bachelor degree. In 2017, Omanization rates ranged from 58% to 73% for the different health professions (Source: Annual Health Report – Ministry of Health 2017).

Table (1) shows the outcomes of the Basic Educational Program in Health Sciences Institutes as part of the 8th Five-Year Plan (2011-2017).

Year	General Nursing	Information Managers	Lab. Technicians	Radiographers	Physiotherapists Bsn	Physiotherapists Diploma	Asst. Dentists	General Health Supervisors	Health Educator for Bachelor Holders	Asst. Pharmacists	Total
2011	485	13	50	26		15	15	18	22	45	689
2012	370	22	38	23		19	14	0	14	39	539
2013	444	0	47	29		18	0	0	0	48	586
2014	9	25	0	1		14	15	0	0	0	64
2015	394	20	43	27		0	18	0	0	41	543
2016	416	13	48	26	18	13	3	0	0	46	583
2017	23	12	2	1	0	1	4	0	0	7	50
Total	2141	105	228	133	18	80	69	18	36	226	3054

Source: General Directorate of Human Resources Development – Ministry of Health (December 2017)

Scholarship Grants Abroad

The Ministry of Health has been consistently keen on granting health sciences national cadres scholarships to study abroad in order to promote them and provide them with the qualifications and expertise necessary to boost their competences, skills and capacities development. Table (2) shows the number of students from Health Sciences Institutes granted scholarships abroad up to December 2017.

Table (2): Number of Academics/Students/Individuals from Health Sciences Institutes Granted Scholarships Abroad up to December 2017

Category	Qualification	Number
Teaching Staff	PhD	45
	Masters	14
	Bachelor	4
Total		63

Source: General Directorate of Human Resources Development – Ministry of Health (December 2017)

International Academic Cooperation

The Ministry of Health has sought to establish academic cooperation between Health Sciences Institutes and many Regional and International Higher Education Institutions. Those include but are not limited to (US: Villanova University; UK: University of Glasgow, West Lancashire College and the University of Liverpool, Australia: University of Queensland, University of Melbourne, La Trobe University and the University of Sydney; Arab universities in Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain).
Many educational programs have earned recognition from the aforementioned institutions. This helped top graduates in these programs to continue their university education, earning Bachelor, Masters and PhD degrees from these universities, in addition to obtaining specialized diplomas in some professional fields.
The scope of cooperation between Health Sciences Institutes and foreign Higher Education Institutions was expanded to include agreements with certain institutions, the design and implementation of a number of specialized programs, and more recently, the development of a bachelor program in nursing under the supervision of Cardiff University in the UK and a physiotherapy program under the supervision of Glasgow Caledonian University, Scotland.