E.9a — Student Wellbeing

Document Control Information

Policy Code: E.9a
Standard: E. Students
Status: published
Version: 1
Process Owner: Director of Student Affairs
Prepared By: Director of Student Affairs
Reviewed By: QAIE
BOT Approval: approved
First Issue Date: 23 Sept 2023
Last Review Date: 23 Jun 2026
Relevant To: DMU Students
Used With: —

Modification History

Version	Date	Update Information	Author/ Reviewer
V 1.0	September 2023	Policy First Implemented	Assoc. Dean- Academic Affairs, Director- Student Affairs Dept/ Dean’s Council pt.
V 1.1	June 2024	Mental health counseling services and procedures updated. Positions titles are updated as per the revised organization structure.	Student Counsellor QA & IE Department
V1.2	November 2024	Student wellbeing policy	Associate Deans-Academic Affairs QA & IE Department
V1.3	April 2026	Updated Abbreviations and Definitions and procedure of Policy	Head of Student Wellbeing

Purpose and Scope

Purpose:
To support students via a wide range of preventive, remedial and developmental mental health welfare/ counselling services that support them with their emotional, social challenges and academic concerns. All counselling services aim to help students achieve their goals in life and improve their wellbeing.

Scope

This applies to all the students of DMU.

Abbreviations and Definitions

Wellbeing: Student Wellbeing at Dubai Medical University refers to the holistic support and care provided to students, focusing on their physical, mental, emotional, and academic functioning/performance . It aims to create a positive, supportive environment that promotes student success and overall development.
Head of student well-being : To provide strategic, clinical, and operational leadership for the University’s Student Well-Being Centre by ensuring the delivery of safe, ethical, evidence-based psychological and preventative mental health services that promote students’ academic success, resilience, and holistic development, in compliance with CDA licensing regulations, Ministry of Education standards, and UAE safeguarding frameworks.

Student Counselor – A qualified and certified professional who provides confidential counselling and psychosocial support to DMU students, helping them navigate emotional, social, and academic challenges and enhance their wellbeing.
Individual Counseling— A confidential one-to-one counselling service where a student meets with a Student Counselor to explore concerns, develop coping strategies, and set goals to improve wellbeing and academic functioning. .
Group Counseling— Counselling delivered to a small group of students with similar concerns, facilitated by a counselor to support skill-building and peer learning in a confidential setting.
Group Guidance/Workshops – Designed workshops that are preventive and developmental in nature that aim to respond to the comprehensive students’ needs.

Policy Statement

Policy Statement

DMU is committed to providing student counselling services mentoring services to students for their wellbeing and academic success.

Policy Statement — Continued

Procedure for Policy

Student Wellbeing Services

DMU gives equal attention to students’ mental health and wellbeing as it does with their academics, it provides its students with diverse counselling services through full-time trained student counsellors. The counselling services concern students' social and emotional challenges. Counselling services are provided by prior appointment with the Counselor during the University working hours.
Type of services Provided by the counselling unit:

Mental health workshops (e.g: mindfulness, guided imagery, conflict resolution, resilience)
Individual counselling sessions as per the unique needs of each student
Group counselling for students who are experiencing a similar challenge and share similar goals
Consultations
Referrals to external services
Coordination of accommodations of students with diagnosed mental health conditions (e.g: ADHD, Anxiety)

Confidentiality of counselling services:
The counsellor and the head of student well-being abides by the profession’s code of ethics, including the protection of students’ privacy, personal information, and access to the service. As a team does not share information related to the student with faculty/staff/guardians unless it is with the knowledge and consent of the student. This information includes notes, reports, files, communication correspondence. Only in cases where the safety of the student or others is at risk or if required by court order, will the counselor share information as required. In such cases, the student is informed before disclosure of information.
Referrals by DMU employees:
DMU faculty/staff/ members of the disciplinary committee/advisors may refer a student to counselling services shall they observe that a student may need support in cases where a student is failing, not attending classes regularly, disrupts the educational process, conducts acts of violence with members of the community or any other behavioral/emotional or academic signs that may indicate that an intervention is needed. The counsellor communicates with the student to provide needed services.
Academic and non-academic Accommodations:
DMU students who are diagnosed with mental health conditions and may require academic / non-academic accommodations communicate with the counsellor and share their medical report and needs. Upon consent of the student, the Counsellor shares this request with ADAA and Dean of Student Affairs to design individual services accordingly.
Possible topics for discussion between students and counsellor include but are not limited to Personal, academic or health related challenges (stress, depression, low self-esteem, fear of public speaking, anger management difficulties, procrastination, test anxiety, low motivation, illness (physical or psychological), Examples also include but are not limited to:

Harassment and Bullying
Self-Awareness
Stress Management techniques
Mindfulness training
Coping skills training
Emotional Intelligence skills
Problem solving skills.
Communication skills
Goal setting
Social Intelligence skills
Resilience
Hope
Optimism
Selfcare
Attendance - absences and excuses.
Performance in exams and class assessments.
Grievances of students.

Student mental health counselling services procedures for DMU undergraduate and graduate students:

Procedures & Guidelines

Procedures for requesting one-to-one counselling sessions:

The student requests a meeting with the either the head of student well-being or the counselor through the university counselling email. The student can access the service as a walk-in depending on the scheduling/ availability of counsellors.
The head of student well-being and counselor responds from 1-3 working days to schedule an appointment with the student
The student consents to the counselling service provided
The duration of the counselling session can go up to one hour
The number of counselling sessions provided will depend on the nature and the intensity of the challenge the student is facing placing importance on the unique needs of each student
If the head of student well-being or counselor observes that the student needs further assessment or intervention, the counsellor will refer the student to external psychological/psychiatric services
The content of the counselling sessions remains confidential and is only with the counsellor
In cases where the student is considered to hold a risk to herself or others, the counselling confidentiality is breached, the student is made aware that the counsellor will contact the family to ensure the safety of the student on and off campus

Procedures for follow- up for students / staff on campus once an issue is presented:

The student accesses the counselling services (individual/group services). The student can also be referred through faculty/staff members
Thehead of student well-being or the counselor thoroughly assesses the students’ needs and designs intervention plans accordingly
The head of student well-being or the counselor ollows-up on the student wellbeing and progress via phone consultations/ face to face meetings / or MS teams meetings
The head of student well-being or the counselor follows up on the student attendance percentage/ academic performance and ensures they are progressing in their academic studies and designs interventional plans accordingly
The head of student well-being or the counselor continues to collect data, gathers feedback from students seeking counselling service, re-conducts and compares psychometric test results and follows up on students’ progress and mental health status
In cases where an incident has occurred (e.g: panic) in the presence of faculty/staff members, they are required to call the counsellor, report the incident details and ensure the student is accessing the right services. The faculty/staff member shall not leave the student unattended, they are expected to communicate empathetically, compassionately, and in a caring supportive manner with the student
Faculty/staff members are not permitted to conduct any mental health related assessments, diagnoses or label about any mental health related condition. Shall they have any concerns, they are required to refer the student to the counselling services available on campus
Faculty/staff members are not permitted to share confidential student cases information / incident details except with the student counsellor directly. Student personal information should not be shared on campus
The student and head of student well-being or the counselor meet for follow-up counselling sessions/ buffer sessions after the termination of the service If needed.

Procedures for mental health related emergencies on campus:

Anyone can report a mental health related emergency on campus, through directly calling the head of student well-being or the counselor number and providing information about the incident
The head of student well-being or the counselor directly connects with the student at the fastest available method (e.g: face to face)
The head of student well-being or the counselor provides adequate crises intervention services until the student is stabilized and ready to continue with her day as normal
The head of student well-being or the counselor assesses the risk level of the student and determines if the student needs to be referred to the nearest emergency department or shall internal services be sufficient
The head of student well-being or the counselor completes an incident report of the emergency incident
The head of student well-being or the counselor refers the student for external psychological/ psychiatric interventions if further interventions are needed

Procedures for requesting mediation/ conflict resolution:

Anyone can request mediation/ conflict resolution services among a group of students including faculty / staff / who find it needed at any point in time
Faculty/staff/students contact the counselling unit via email requesting the service
The head of student well-being communicates with related members in the university to resolve the dispute upon agreement of all parties
The head of student well-being or the counselor documents the incident
If the dispute doesn’t resolve, it’s referred to the disciplinary committee for further investigation and intervention

Procedures for reporting of students of concern on campus:

Anyone on campus can report a student whom they find are of concern and need the attention of the counsellor through filling the online DMU Student Counselling Referral Form
The head of student well-being or the counselor connects with the source of referral and gathers further information about the referred student
The head of student well-being or the counselor communicates with the student and intervenes as needed

Procedures for requesting mental health related accommodations on campus/ students of determination

The student fills out the health declaration form and indicates their disability and provides a medical report of their diagnosis in addition to the highlighted needs on campus.
The head of student well-being or the counselor arranges a meeting with the student for review of the information provided and coordinates with related academic departments for application of the accommodation request.
The head of student well-being or the counselor onfidentially communicates this medical information with the consent of the student in providing the services on campus with concerned members (faculty members, operations, etc.)

Responsibilities for Application

Vice Chancellor Academic Affairs
College Deans
Head of student well-being
Student counselors
Dean of Student Affairs
Academic Advisors