Highly Commended
Sidra symposia series medical education events
Summary of work
Currently preparing to open in Doha, Sidra Medical and Research Center (Sidra) is a groundbreaking hospital, research and education centre focusing on women’s and children’s health. Sidra’s vision and mission of setting new standards in women’s and children’s care strongly align with Qatar’s National Health Strategy, an ambitious plan to transform the health of Qatar’s people. Already partially staffed, Sidra will employ a workforce of several thousand highly-skilled healthcare professionals (HCPs).
Sidra identified a significant unmet need for continuing professional development and educational opportunities to upskill HCPs in Qatar and challenged Ketchum to help it address this. In addition, Sidra wanted to raise its profile among future employees and patients and to begin forging international partnerships to position itself in the global healthcare arena.
Launched in 2013, the Sidra Symposia Series is an evolving programme of educational events to enable HCPs in Qatar to develop new skills and stay abreast of developments in women’s and children’s health. Each of the 12 symposia taking place in 2013/14 covered topics aligned to Qatar’s National Health Strategy. Demand for the symposia started high and grew dramatically, reaching 13% of all HCPs in Qatar. Media coverage of the events effectively engaged the patient community with 91,250,507 impressions made to date. The planned continuation of the symposia in 2015 and the lasting partnerships formed are testament to its success.
Judges’ comments
A standout entry - it really stopped us in our tracks. It was a highly unusual meeting - big and robust, had comprehensive metrics and a solid alignment with the current healthcare environment and managed to deliver great results in a difficult therapeutic area.
