GE Healthcare offers special clinical training programs at 1st Annual Riyadh Radiology Review

The TiP-TV sessions, linked to GE's continuing education and training programs, are part of GE Healthcare's gold sponsorship participation in ARRR and an important component of the company's growing relationship with Saudi Arabia. The global diagnostic medical equipment and services provider will also showcase advanced technologies and promote 'early health' awareness at its stand during the event.

The Riyadh conference is taking place in a time of rising interest and investment in the national and regional healthcare sector. Direct healthcare costs in the GCC region are expected to increase from the current US$12 billion to US$60 billion by 2025, according to a published report by McKinsey & Co Inc on Healthcare in the GCC - Challenges and Opportunities, recently presented by Dr Viktor Hediger at the GE Healthcare Middle East Media Summit. This increase will be fueled by health risk factors, ageing, population growth and medical inflation in today's fast developing GGC market.

"Saudi Arabia is a key market for GE Healthcare; the 1st Annual Riyadh Radiology Review gives us the opportunity to address the issues of expanding demand for services within the Kingdom, and throughout the GCC," said Isam Moursy, General Manager, GE Healthcare, Meddle East Africa Central Asia and Turkey (MEACAT) region.

"The Tip TV training sessions will also provide a platform in which we can showcase our extensive set of capabilities as a leader in technologies and solutions, developed to meet healthcare providers' needs to care for their patients."

The assortment of TiP-TV sessions offered at ARRR includes courses on Functional CT, Magnetic Resonance safety, MR Imaging, chest radiography and radiology problems related to obesity. For more than 10 years, GE's TiP-TV has provided quality continuing education and training programs to healthcare professionals around the world.

"GE's significant presence at the conference illustrates its extended commitment to Saudi Arabia," added Jan De Witte, VP of Services for GE Healthcare. "Since the late 1990s, GE Healthcare has been investing in building service infrastructure in Saudi, and we will continue to invest in Saudi by building a state-of-the-art service center in Riyadh that has the capacity to support the entire Middle East region."

Fully staffed with local agents and senior technical support engineers, the service centre will feature a dedicated, one-stop hotline for all customer inquiries related to GE Healthcare.

In April 2007, GE Healthcare signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Health to train the nation's medical professionals. Through GE's training initiatives, especially the focus on continuing medical education through TiP-TV, the Ministry's new training center will provide Saudi professionals with new insights into medical science, De Witte added.

At the conference, TiP-TV training sessions will be available from September 3 to 5.