Kumar Bahukhandi
Thumbay Group Founder President Dr Thumbay Moideen and Gulf Medical University Chancellor Prof Manda Venkatramana pose with students and university representatives at GMU’s 28th anniversary celebration in Ajman, UAE, on Thursday, 5 November 2026. Photo courtesy of Gulf Medical University.Photo;channel24india.com
Students born in Thumbay hospitals, graduates who returned to work and alumni whose children now study at Gulf Medical University came together to celebrate 28 years of medical education in Ajman.
Ajman, UAE: Gulf Medical University (GMU) marked its 28th anniversary on Thursday, 5 November 2026, with a gathering that brought several generations of its community onto one stage. Among them were students born in Thumbay hospitals, graduates who returned to work within the group and alumni whose children now study at the university.
Dr Thumbay Moideen, Founder President of Thumbay Group, attended as chief guest. University leaders, faculty, staff, students and alumni joined the celebration, where Moideen and GMU Chancellor Prof Manda Venkatramana honoured the newly elected Student Council Executive Board.
Moideen reflected on the ties that had brought so many families back to the university. “Today I look at this hall and see students who were born in our hospitals, alumni who chose to come home to us, and their children studying in our classrooms,” he said. He thanked the UAE’s rulers, his team and his family for supporting him throughout the university’s development.
International recognition and renewed accreditation
Venkatramana traced GMU’s growth across medical education, research, healthcare and innovation. He pointed to progress in accreditation, international rankings and academic expansion, and credited the people behind it. “I dedicate the success to our faculty, staff, and students. The best is yet to come,” he said.
The university made its debut in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2027 in the 1001–1200 band overall. GMU reported that it scored 99.4 in International Outlook, the highest score on that indicator among the 2,297 universities in the edition.
In the QS World University Rankings for the Arab Region 2027, GMU entered at 125th overall and placed first in the region for its international student ratio. Its College of Pharmacy also entered the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2026 in the 351–400 band for Pharmacy and Pharmacology. GMU reported an 88th-place finish in the Times Higher Education Arab University Rankings 2027.
The UK’s Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education renewed GMU’s institutional accreditation in June 2026. The accreditation is valid until 2031. GMU said it met all ten applicable European Standards and Guidelines without conditions. The university first received QAA accreditation in 2021.
From the classroom to the hospital
Founded by Thumbay Group in 1998, GMU now runs seven colleges and offers 45 accredited programmes. Its academic portfolio spans medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, nursing, health sciences, healthcare management, artificial intelligence in healthcare and veterinary medicine. The university says its students represent more than 117 nationalities, its faculty come from 56 countries and more than 5,000 graduates work in healthcare systems around the world. s
Clinical training takes place through Thumbay Group’s academic health system, which includes seven academic hospitals and more than 3,100 training beds. GMU also reports more than 75 international university partnerships. Thumbay Healthcare holds Joint Commission International Enterprise Accreditation, and Thumbay University Hospital has treated patients of more than 175 nationalities, the group said.
For some families at the anniversary, the connection began in a Thumbay hospital and continued in a GMU classroom. For others, graduation was followed by a return to work or by a child enrolling at the same university. Those connections gave the occasion its most personal moments.
