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Deputy Minister Health for Therapeutic Services

Deputy Minister's CV
Dr. Tareef Yousuf Alaama 
 
Current Position: Deputy Minister for Therapeutic Services 

Summary:
  • Born in Jeddah in 1976.
  • Graduated from the Medical School, King Abdulaziz University, 2000 (Ranks: first).
  • Was awarded scholarships from London, Ontario and Canada, and got American and Canadian boards certificates in internal medicine, their certificates in geriatric medicine.
  • This was followed by two fellowships; in memory disorders and osteoporosis.
  • All training was achieved with excellent and outstanding evaluations, in addition to winning the prestigious Canadian Kauffman award in outstanding research.
  • Completed, also, the four levels of the Physician Manager Institute course, where he learned and developed multiple skills required for health care management, including leadership skills and development, negotiation, conflict management, and change management.
  • Worked for three years as an adjunct professor and a consultant at the University of Western Ontario.
  • Upon return to Saudi Arabia, he joined King Abdulaziz University as a consultant and assistant professor.
  • Part-time consultant in the private sector.
  • Also gained different experiences in working as a locum during his vacations in the National Guard Hospital and in a few hospitals in Canada.
  • Worked for King Abdul-Aziz University, where he was able through negotiation, convincing, and team engagement to promote the medical care services into the international standards as a clinical teaching unit; a change that had been resisted for many years.
  • In August of 2014, he joined the Command and Control Center (CCC), at the Ministry of Health (MOH). 
  • In November 2014, he was promoted to the Chief of Staff of the CCC, and was designated, shortly afterwards, as the Deputy Minister for therapeutic services at the Ministry of Health.
  • His goal is to help develop an outstanding and sustainable health system in Saudi Arabia that would be considered among the top systems in the world. He plans to achieve that through teamwork, communication, effective problem solving, out of the box thinking, and – understandably - very long working hours. While this is the ultimate goal, he believes that there are multiple quick wins along the way that one should achieve, in order to keep the positive energy of the team and win the support of our most valuable clients, the people of Saudi Arabia.

Personal Data:
E-mail: talama@moh.gov.sa

Qualifications:
  • MBBS: King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah: 1999/2000 (top of class).
  • American Board of Internal Medicine: August 2006. Score: 10th decile (Top 10%).
  • Royal College of the Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, Internal Medicine Board: May 2007.
  • Royal College of the Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, Geriatric Medicine Board: Sept. 2008.
  • American Board of Geriatric Medicine: November 2008, 10th decile (Top 10%).
  • International Society for Clinical Densitometry, certified clinical densitometrist (CCD): April 2009.
  • Canadian Medical Association, Physician Manager Institute (PMI):
  • Level I. Leadership skills: April 2006, Toronto, Ontario.
  • Level II. Leadership skills development: April 2006, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
  • Level III. Conflict Management and Negotiation Skills: November 2006,
  • London, Ontario.
  • Level IV. Planning and Change Management: November 2006, London, Ontario.
  • Medical Council of Canada Evaluating Examination: August 2002. Score: 478. (Pass=303).
  • Medical Council of Canada Qualifying Examination, Level: I&II, August 2002. Score: 671. (Pass=447).
  • United States Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE), Step 1: August 2001. Score: 217 (Pass=182).
  • Fellowship in dementia and memory disorders: 2008-2009.
  • Fellowship in osteoporosis: 2008-2009.

Experience:
  • August 2000 - August 2001 (excluding March & April): intern: King Abdulaziz University Hospital, and Maternity and Children Hospital, Jeddah.
  • September 2001 – July 2002: Resident: King Faisal Specialist Hospital, Jeddah: Department of Medicine.
  • August 2002 to May 2003: Assistant professor, King Abdulaziz University, Faculty of Medicine.
  • June 2003 – July 2006: Resident: University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada; Department of Internal Medicine.
  • May-June 2006: Chief Resident: St. Joseph Health Centre.
  • July-Dec 2007: Chief Resident: Department of Geriatrics.
  • July 2006 – June 2008: Specialist physician in geriatric medicine, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada, Department of Geriatric Medicine.
  • July 2008-September 2009: Clinical fellow in dementia and osteoporosis.
  • University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada, Department of Geriatric Medicine.
  • October 2009 – October 2011: Consultant in internal medicine and geriatrics, and Adjunct Professor: University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada.
  • November 2011 – present: Assistant professor and consultant of internal medicine and geriatrics: King Abdulaziz University, Faculty of Medicine; Department of Internal Medicine.
  • August 2014 - November 2014: Chairman of the Capacity Platform in the Command and Control Centre (CCC), Ministry of Health, Saudi Arabia.
  • November 2014 – present: Deputy Minister for Therapeutic Services, Ministry of Health, Saudi Arabia.
  • June 9th – July 7th 2012, and October 10th-November 10th 2013: Locum consultant in internal medicine, National Guard Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
  • Head of the Geriatrics Research Unit, King Fahad Center for Medical Research, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
  • Coordinator of the Clinical Teaching Unit (CTU) and Head of the CTU committee, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
  • Head of the Documentation Quality Control Committee, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
  • Board member of the Geriatrics Society in Makkah (non-profit organization).
  • Head of the scientific committee at the Geriatrics Society in Makkah.

Achievements:
  • Ranked first during the 4th, 5th and 6th academic years (final years) at the Faculty of Medicine, achieving the highest GPA at the faculty.
  • Exceptional achievement in English: English language center, King Abdulaziz University, 1995.
  • Awarded an appreciation certificate on excellent performance: Saudi Aramco medical services organization, Dhahran, 1999.
  • Selected as the Exemplary Student at the Faculty of Medicine in KAU for the year (2000).
  • Achieved the 90th percentile for PGY2s across North America in the 2004 Internal Medicine In-Training Examination.
  • Achieved the 97th percentile for PGY3s across North America in the 2005 Internal Medicine In-Training Examination.
  • Won the research award in Geriatric Medicine on the tri-City (Toronto- Hamilton-London) Research Day, 2008, Hamilton, Ontario.
  • Won the Kaufman prize by the Canadian Geriatrics Society for the best scientific research presented by a resident or fellow at the annual meeting, Toronto, Ontario, April 2009.
  • Transformed the Inpatient System at King Abdulaziz University (KAU) internal medicine unit into a Clinical Teaching Unit (CTU) adopting the international standards, August 2013.

Memberships:
  • Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada.
  • Fellow of the American College of Physicians.
  • Member of the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties.
  • Member of the Saudi Society of Internal Medicine.
  • Member of the Saudi Geriatrics Society in Makkah (non-profit organization).
  • Member of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario.
  • Member of the Canadian Geriatrics Society.
  • Member of the American Geriatrics Society.
  • Member of the Alzheimer's Association International Society to Advance Alzheimer Research and Treatment (ISTAART).
  • Member of the International Society of Clinical Densitometry.
  • Member of the International Osteoporosis Foundation.
  • Member of Consortium of Canadian Centers for Clinical Cognitive Research (C5R).
  • Member of the Neurosciences Research Group at King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Research:
  • Melatonin Decreases Delirium in Elderly Patient: A Randomized, Placebo- controlled Trial: Submitted and presented as an oral presentation and a poster in multiple meetings and conferences.
  • The Evolution of Clinical Trials in Dementia and cognitive impairment: Alaama T, Woolmore-Goodwin S, Smith M, Borrie M.
  • A phase 2 multi-center, randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-controlled study of the safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics of multiple doses of PF04360365 in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease (Pfizer): Sub-investigator.
  • 2008: Borrie MJ, Wells JL, Alaama TY, et al. A Phase 3, Multicenter, Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Parallel-Group, Efficacy and Safety Trial of Bapineuzumab (AAB-001, ELN115727) in Subjects with Mild to Moderate Alzheimer’s Disease who are Apolipoprotein eϵ4 Non-Carriers: JANSSEN Alzheimer Immunotherapy.
  • 2008: Wells JL, Borrie MJ, Alaama TY. A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Dose-Ranging, Safety and Efficacy Study of Oral ELND005 (AZD-103) in Alzheimer’s disease. Elan Pharmaceuticals Inc.
  • 2009: Wells JL, Borrie MJ, Alaama TY: Phase III, Parallel, Randomized, Placebo-controlled, dose-response, delayed-start 88 week Study for the Effect of LY450139, a γ-Secretase Inhibitor, on the Progression of Alzheimer’s disease as Compared with Placebo: Eli Lilly and Company.
  • 2011: Effect of Different Doses of SAR110894D on Cognition in Patients with Mild to Moderate Alzheimer's disease on Donepezil. A phase 2 randomized controlled trial (Sanofi-Aventis) Sub-investigator.
  • 2012: Developing a new therapeutic strategy for Parkinson’s disease and related disorders: Co-investigator.
  • 2012: The prevalence of Delirium in King Abdulaziz University Hospital. Principle investigator (PI).
  • 2012: The Knowledge and attitudes of Medical Residents towards Geriatric Medicine: Single investigator.
  • 2012: The prevalence and risk factors of cognitive impairment in diabetics in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia: (PI).
  • 2012: Prescription practices and their associated difficulties in the outpatient department in KAUH.
  • 2013: The causes and prevalence of falls in KAUH (PI).
  • 2013: The causes and prevalence of urinary incontinence in KAUH: (PI)
  • 2013: association studies of cytochrome 4503A genotypers and the response to statins metabolism in hypercholesterolemia.
  • 2013: Attitudes and knowledge of medical personnel in KAUH towards resuscitation.

Editorial Activities:
  • Author in reviewer:
  1. The Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
  2. The Journal of the Canadian Family Physician.
  3. The American Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease and other Dementias.
  4. The International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.
  • Listed as a reviewer in a few other journals, e.g. Annals of Internal Medicine.

Bibliography:
  1. Falls in the elderly: spectrum and prevention. Review article. Single author. Can Fam Physician. 2011 Jul; 57(7): 771-6.
  2. Melatonin decreases delirium in elderly patients: a randomized, placebo- controlled trial. Alaama T, Brymer C, Gutmanis I, Woolmore-Goodwin SM, Esbaugh J, Dasgupta M. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2011 Jul; 26(7): 687-94. doi: 10.1002/gps.2582. Epub 2010 Sep 15.
  3. An Unusual Case of Recurrent Falls. Al-Aama T, Basharat P, Nicolle M. Accepted for publication May 30th 2011.

 
 
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Last Update : 16 November 2017 11:29 AM
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