LAUSR

Located at the southeast end of the Arabian Peninsula, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has made great strides over the past few decades toward meeting the healthcare needs of its population [1]. The increase in burden of chronic disease accompanying population growth has increased healthcare spending and necessitated the establishment of centers of excellence in order to accommodate the need for advanced care [2, 3]. It is against this background that Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi (CCAD) was established with the goal of providing tertiary care services of the highest quality to citizens and residents of the UAE, thereby minimizing the need for them to travel overseas in order to obtain highquality subspecialty care [4]. Our primary task at CCAD was to establish a care delivery model similar to that of Cleveland Clinic foundation (CCF), while considering regional variations related to disease burden, socio-cultural, patient-related, as well as physician and caregiver-related factors. The institutional structure at CCAD is similar to that of CCF main campus in Cleveland, Ohio with both medical and surgical specialties housed within an institute-based structure and aligned along subspecialty-based clinical units [5]. The Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, within the Digestive Disease Institute (DDI), was modeled along the lines of academic Gastroenterology divisions in the United States (US), centered around sub-specialty-based clinical practice, supported by research and education domains. We describe our experience with the establishment and growth of the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at CCAD and outline opportunities and challenges for graduating fellows and junior faculty interested in international practice opportunities.