The Saudi Arabian Cultural Bureau in Canada
The Saudi Arabian Cultural Bureau in Canada was established in 1978 in the City of Ottawa, the Capital of Canada, to meet the educational needs of Saudi students wishing to pursue their higher education in Canadian Universities and Technical Colleges.
The Cultural Bureau also serves to act as a liaison between Saudi Arabia and Canada in the promotion of cultural and educational relations and the establishment of cooperation between Saudi institutions of higher learning and their counterparts in Canada.
For administrative purposes, the Cultural Bureau is attached to the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Canada, and on all educationally related matters reports to the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) of the Government of Saudi Arabia.
Postgraduate Medical Education a Priority
From the very beginning of the development of modern Saudi Arabia, its government has placed its first priority on the education and health care of its citizens. In order to achieve both these goals, the government began to establish a network of Saudi Arabian Educational and Cultural Bureaus in strategic countries abroad. In this way, Saudi students were provided with access to the very best higher education and medical training the world had to offer.
The Saudi Arabian Educational and Cultural Bureau was tasked with spearheading the government's commitment by providing comprehensive services in all aspects of the process, from advising in university and course selection, admission, academic monitoring, and providing a full range of assistance in the daily life of students and trainees.
The Saudi Arabian Cultural Bureau in Canada was established in May 1978, to enable Saudi students to take advantage of the high quality of education and training available in Canadian Colleges and Universities, which are considered to rank amongst the foremost in the world.
As a result of the efforts of the Cultural Bureau, the number of Saudi students in Canada pursuing both medical training and non-medical postgraduate education had continued to grow over the years since 1978. Today, for example, close to 400 Saudi physicians are receiving postgraduate medical residency training in hospitals across Canada in most of the specialties accredited by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. Many hundreds of Saudi Royal College Fellows have completed their training and certification in Canada and have returned to the Kingdom to assume leading positions in major Saudi health service institutions. In the non-medical field, many Saudi graduates have returned from Canada with advanced degrees in programs ranging from engineering, basic sciences, computer science, social sciences, law, business administration, etc.
POSTGRADUATE MEDICAL EDUCATION A PRIORITY
From its inception and continuing up to the present, the Cultural Bureau in Canada has placed its primary focus on the postgraduate medical education of Saudi physicians in a vast number of medical specialty programs accredited by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC) and the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC).
Today, almost 700 Saudi physicians are active trainees in programs of postgraduate medical residency in 13 Medical Colleges across Canada, and this number is expected to keep growing.
Each residency program lasts for a duration of 4 to 6 years, in accordance with the requirements of the RCPSC and the CFPC. Upon completion of their programs, Saudi physicians take both the written and oral examinations of the RCPSC or the CFPC, and every year some 50 or more return to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia having successfully completed their certification examinations and having received the designation of medical specialist and Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada or the College of Family Physicians of Canada in their medical specialty.
At present, more Saudi physicians are receiving postgraduate medical training in Canada than in any other country in the world; while in Canada, Saudi physicians comprise, by far, the largest group of non-Canadians in medical residency training - in fact, totaling more than one-third of the total from all other countries combined.
The Saudi Arabian Cultural Bureau is headed by the Cultural Attache, who is responsible for all Bureau activities and provides central supervision over all operations of the Bureau. The current Cultural Attache is Dr. Faisal Mohammad Al-Mohanna Abaalkhail . His predecessors at the Bureau over the years since its founding have been:
Dr. Essam Abid Sheikh: 15/6/1398H (21/5/1978) to 30/4/1405H (21/1/1985)
Dr. Suliman B. Sindi: 1/5/1405H (22/1/1985) to 30/1/1410H (31/8/1989)
Dr. Jasser A. Al-Jasser: 1/2/1410H (1/9/1989) to 30/5/1413H (24/11/1992)
Dr. Mazyed I. Al-Mazyed: 1/6/1413H (25/11/1992) to 24/3/1416H (20/8/1995)
Dr. Ghazy Makky Almakky: 25/3/1416H (21/8/1995) to 29/11/1426H (31/12/2005)
Dr. Ahmad A. Al-Aswad: 22/12/1428H (01/01/2008) to 30/05/1429H (04/06/2008)
Operating under the central supervision of the Cultural Attache, the Bureau is divided into the following departments and sections:
Academic Affairs has two divisions (one for Medical training and one for Non-Medical students). Academic Affairs is responsible for providing services to Saudi students from the time of their expression of interest for admission until their graduation. The services begin with seeking admission, on behalf of Saudi academic candidates, into the most suitable programs at the most suitable medical colleges, universities or other Canadian educational or training institutions.
Academic Affairs is also responsible for advising, guiding and supervising the students' progress at all levels following their placement in Canadian institutions. This includes maintaining records of students' performance, following up on their progress and transmitting this information, through the Cultural Attache, to the respective Saudi Arabian sponsoring agencies. Academic Affairs helps students by contacting officials of the respective universities to facilitate registration for study or remedial assistance; receiving scholastic reports and transcripts each term, and meeting with students and counseling them if and when they encounter any problems.
Administrative, Information and Social Affairs Section
The Administrative Section is responsible for providing administrative support for the Bureau, and handles all administrative, secretarial and translation duties, receives incoming and dispatches outgoing fax and mail correspondence, conducts general office services, as well as communications, security, transportation, and airline ticketing for Bureau staff and Saudi students.
The Administrative Section also oversees the operation of our library, which contains books, magazines, newspapers, pamphlets, theses and dissertations written by Saudi graduates as well as comprehensive information on a variety of Islamic topics. In addition, information on Saudi education, culture, industry, commerce, scientific and medical development, general knowledge books and encyclopedia are also available in the library. Information from many other published sources, including media reports, are obtained and preserved in the library.
The Administrative Section is also tasked with looking after the social and religious interests of Saudi students and trainees in Canada. Mr. Abdullah Al-Mazyad currently heads the Administrative and Social Affairs Section assisted by Mr. Mohammed Al-Tawil.
The Accounting Department is responsible for all accounts and all expenditures of the Bureau, including expenditures related to Saudi students and their families. These include tuition, salaries, rewards and other expenditures. This department also handles expenditures related to the Bureau and its staff, such as salaries of employees, rent, other operating costs, and private expenditures. The Accounting Department is currently headed by Mr. Mohammed Al-Jarouf .
The Saudi Arabian Cultural Bureau remains committed to the support and expansion of its Postgraduate Medical Education Program in Canada and intends to build on its success into the following new and expanded programs:
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Undergraduate Medical School Programs in Canada.
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Graduate (Master's and Doctoral) Programs in non-medical fields.
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Cooperation with leading Canadian Universities offering 'Cooperative Education' Programs.
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Participation in Programs offered by, and increased cooperation with, Canada's Community Colleges (technical colleges and polytechnics).
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Increased cooperation between Saudi and Canadian institutions of higher learning.
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Increased cooperation between the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Higher Education and its counterparts in provincial governments across Canada.