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.
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)
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)
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.