Chicago, Illinois, US, Sept. 17, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ACGME International (ACGME-I) proudly announces the winners of the 2026 ACGME International Awards. These awards celebrate individuals who have shown extraordinary dedication to graduate medical education at institutions and programs accredited by ACGME-I around the world.
Due to the high quality of nominations received this year, for the first time there are two recipients in each of the three awards categories.
Additionally, the ACGME-I Board of Directors approved the renaming of the Physician Leader Award to the Susan H. Day Physician Leader Award, honoring Dr. Day, whose visionary leadership of ACGME-I in 2014-2021 helped to establish the strong reputation and processes that propel the current growth of ACGME-I.
The 2026 recipients of the Susan H. Day Physician Leader Award, which honors physicians who lead educational activities and promote values that underpin ACGME-I accreditation, are:
- Maha M. Al Fahim, MBBCh, CCFP, Chair and Designated Institutional Official (DIO), Sheikh Khalifa Medical City, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
- Salah Zein-El-Dine, MD, FACP, Associate Vice President for Clinical Affairs, Chief Medical Officer, and DIO, American University in Beirut, Lebanon
The recipients of the Physician Educator Award, which honors program directors and faculty members directly involved in teaching residents and fellows and caring for patients, are:
- Sayed Karar Ali MD, FACP, FRCP-Edin, Chief Medical Informatics Officer and Section Head of Internal Medicine, The Aga Khan University Medical College East Africa, Nairobi, Kenya
- Nguyen Thi Tuyet, MD, PhD, Program Director, Graduate Medical Education Program and DIO, VinUniversity, Hanoi, Vietnam
The recipients of the Staff Award, which honors administrators and other staff members who have provided extraordinary service to the educational process, to residents and fellows, and to meeting ACGME-I requirements, are:
- Israk Bangzaja Abdula, Specialist, Medical Education Office, Sidra Medicine, Doha, Qatar
- Waqar Asghar, MBA, Assistant Manager of the Pediatrics Residency Program, The Aga Khan University Medical Center, Karachi, Pakistan
These awardees will be honored at the 2026 ACGME Annual Educational Conference, which will take place on 19-21 February 2026, in San Diego, California, US.
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ACGME International (ACGME-I) is an independent 501(c)(3) organization currently providing accreditation services to nearly 200 graduate medical education programs in 32 institutions across 14 countries. Its mission is to improve health care by assessing and advancing the quality of resident physicians’ education through accreditation. ACGME-I seeks to improve global health by ensuring that physicians who care for individuals are well-prepared in all aspects required of their chosen specialty. Learn more about ACGME-I here: https://www.acgme-i.org.
Mel Huang ACGME International mhuang@acgme.org
