Ajman, UAE: Gulf Medical University welcomed new students at its 2026 White Coat Ceremony today at Thumbay Grounds, taking the university past a milestone that few institutions anywhere can claim. With this intake, GMU now has students from 115 nationalities since its founding.
Dr. Thumbay Moideen, Founder President of Thumbay Group, was Chief Guest for the morning and midday ceremonies, with Prof. Manda Venkatramana, Chancellor of Gulf Medical University, presiding. Addressing the new students, Dr. Moideen said, “From the top university in the Gulf, now we are one of the finest medical universities in the world”.
Prof. Venkatramana reminded the cohort that the ceremony marks a beginning rather than an achievement. “A white coat does not make anyone a clinician. Years of asking better questions do,” he said. “What we ask of this batch is simple. Stay curious, stay honest about what you do not yet know, and never let the science get ahead of the kindness.”
Students in Dentistry, Pharmacy, Nursing, Physiotherapy, Medical Laboratory Sciences, Anesthesia Technology, Medical Imaging Sciences, Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology, Optometry, Healthcare Management and AI in Healthcare took their oath. Students of the Doctor of Medicine, Graduate Entry MD, Biomedical Science and the Thumbay International Pathway Program also followed. Families who could not travel to Ajman watched the proceedings on a live stream.
Dr. Kaltham Ali Kayaf, Director of Animal Health and Development at the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, joined as Chief Guest to present white coats to GMU’s Doctor of Veterinary Medicine students, the UAE’s first veterinary white coat ceremony of its kind, with Dr. Thumbay Moideen presiding.
The Thumbay Medicity will soon be home to Thumbay Veterinary Hospital, reflecting an approach the group has been building toward for years. Human, animal and environmental health are taught and practised as a single system rather than three separate silos, and students move between them early enough for it to shape how they think.
GMU students enter clinical environments from their first year rather than waiting until later in their studies. The university’s teaching network spans Thumbay University Hospital, Thumbay Rehabilitation Hospital, Thumbay Labs and the wider Thumbay Healthcare network, giving every college early clinical exposure, simulation-based training and research mentoring. The coats handed out today will be worn in those corridors within weeks.
Gulf Medical University was established in Ajman in 1998 and is one of the region’s leading private health sciences universities, with students and alumni drawn from 115 nationalities. Part of the Thumbay Group, GMU teaches across medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, nursing, health sciences, veterinary medicine, healthcare management and AI in healthcare, supported by the Thumbay Healthcare network, the largest private academic health system in the region, with 3,100 beds available for clinical training. For more information, visit gmu.ac.ae
