He was hosting a reception at his office in Mina Emergency Hospital for a group of women volunteer medical students. His announcement is aimed at encouraging more women to join health-care services after graduation.
Saudi health-care manpower suffers from a lack of Saudi women serving during Haj.
It is estimated that women health-care workers during the pilgrimage were almost 6,000 out of the total 21,000 personnel, according to this year's figures.
The Health Ministry has a tradition of recruiting promising students to serve as volunteer trainees in its facilities during Haj for some years.
“It is a way to supplement the theoretical knowledge provided in college to these volunteers and to put them in real health-care situations, like acting as nurses when needed, handling patient files, and initially taking the vital signs of patients and dealing with minor cases under the very close supervision for the physicians they are assigned to,” said Dr. Khalid Marghlani, MoH spokesman.
The ministry recruited only 70 students from five universities, 40 of whom were women.
“It is a small number but they met our strict criteria for volunteers. These criteria include early applications, being a final year student at college, having past experience in Haj health-care services, and professor recommendations,” said Dr. Abdullatif Banoun, supervisor for volunteer medical students during Haj and Umrah.
“Hopefully we will be able to recruit more such students from all over the Kingdom next year with the minister’s new order, “ he added.
