Health Minister Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah attended yesterday on behalf of Custodian of Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah the graduation ceremony of 685 Saudi medical graduates. The event was organized by the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties (SCFHS) at King Fahd Cultural Center and attended by prominent medical personalities from the Kingdom and abroad. Speaking on the occasion, Al-Rabeeah said: “I am conveying the utmost congratulations of King Abdullah to all graduates on their success and achievements.” He said King Abdullah’s sponsorship of this event shows his personal keenness and care for the health sector. He added this demonstrates the vision of the Kingdom’s leadership of a comprehensive economic development of the country. “I would like to congratulate you all for obtaining these certificates that would further encourage you to exert more efforts in serving this country.” He said there were 98 graduates from other nations including Kuwait, Bahrain, the UAE, Yemen, Oman, Jordan, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Britain, Russia, Pakistan and India, adding the Kingdom is a source of culture, education, innovation and civilization and also a place for security and peace. The minister has emphasized SCFHS will continue its commitment in providing the necessary education and training to its staff member in various specialties, pointing out his ministry is committed to maintaining health standards. SCHS Secretary-General Abdulaziz H. Alsaigh said the actual measure of any nation is the advancement of its knowledge and its achievement in science and education. “As such, the leaders of this country has been providing all support in that direction” He said this occasion is testimony to the success of the government’s efforts. Urging them to do more in in terms of education, he said that seeking knowledge is a religious duty. One of the most important objectives of establishing SCFHS was to provide postgraduate programs in various health fields and to supervise such programs and provide vocational training opportunities to graduates of medical and health colleges within and outside the Kingdom. SCHS adopted statutes for training and examinations in its programs and created a statute for certifying and accrediting training centers based on the selection of government and private hospitals supported by staff and equipment in order to provide high quality training. The number of certified and accredited centers is 67 inside and outside the Kingdom. SCHS can, since its incorporation, provide 51 programs in main and sub-specialties and micro-specialties as well in the various health fields. It handled 3,000 trainees this year. The number of its members exceeded 400 who supervise all programs. It also provides accreditation to other training programs provided by government and private health institutions. SCHS in its turn supervises some of such programs by concluding agreements with the agency providing the program. SCHS’ department for examination is one of its main departments as it is responsible for providing a high quality examination and assessment system that ensures an efficient and fair environment. The department is responsible for the organization and supervision of all aspects of examinations that varies from license examinations to board examinations. The department established recently a big center for computerized examinations to make test taking more efficient, accessible and convenient. Health Ministry spokesman Khalid Al-Mirghalani told Arab News that graduates who received their bachelor’s degrees in medicine wanted to specialize in particular fields such as internal medicine, oncology, rheumatology, gynecology, orthopedics, surgery, pharmacology and endocrinology.” “Those who clear this program have specialized in one of the 40 disciplines chalked out by the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties,” Al-Mirghalani added.