RIYADH, 5 February — The Saudi Society for Clinical Medicine held its first meeting here on Sunday under the chairmanship of Prince Ahmad ibn Salman, chairman of Saudi Research & Marketing Group and the honorary chairman of the society.
The society, which was formed recently, aims to improve clinical diagnosis of diseases through medical laboratories by setting out an advanced program to review their performance.
"It also aims to provide patients in the Kingdom with excellent clinical care, by unifying quality standards at scientific laboratories and setting out a mechanism and criteria to assess performance of laboratories," a official statement said.
Based at King Abdul Aziz University’s (KAAU) Faculty of Medicine in Jeddah, the society will also set up an agency in support of the Health Ministry to issue licenses for laboratories and supervise clinical services.
Spelling out other objectives, it said the society would also enhance the professional capabilities of laboratory staff, and take part in scientific conferences and seminars.
The society’s board of directors includes nine well-experienced senior doctors.
They are: Dr. Osama ibn Ibrahim Nasif, consultant and assistant professor of pathology and clinical medicine at KAAU, Dr. Ibrahim ibn Hasan Al-Zahrani, consultant, assistant professor and acting head of the department of pathology at KAAU, Dr. Hamid Khoja, assistant professor of medical technology at KAAU, Dr. Bahir Badawi, director of laboratories at Erfan & Bagado Hospitals in Jeddah, Dr. Abdul Rahim Qari, hematology consultant at King Fahd Hospital in Jeddah, Dr. Tarek Ashour, assistant professor of hematology at Umm Al-Qura University in Makkah, Dr. Mohsen Al-Hazmi, professor and consultant of chemical diseases at King Khaled Hospital and King Saud University in Riyadh, Dr. Samiya Al-Sabki, consultant of chemical diseases and quality supervisor at Military Hospital Labs in Riyadh, and Dr. Sameer Amr, clinical medicine consultant and director of labs at Saudi-Aramco Hospital in Dhahran.
