Dr Samya Al Memari obtained her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Sharjah University in 2003 and in 2007 her Master’s in Quality Management from the University of Wollongong. In 2011 she completed her second Master’s degree in Public Health in Leadership and management of Health Care Systems in the Emirates of Abu Dhabi, from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (JHSPH). In 2018 she competed her Doctoral Degree in Public Health from the same University.
Professionally, she has progressed through the nursing profession, starting from being a practical nurse to become Director of Nursing. She has worked in different units such as Medical, Surgical, VIP, ICU, and Dialysis, as a staff nurse. She also acted as a part-time instructor in the School of Medical Services at Zayed Military Hospital. She changed her work direction to nursing administration by first taking up the post of Head Nurse, then Medical/Surgical Assistant Chief Nurse, followed by Deputy Director of Nursing at Zayed Military Hospital.
In 2012, she joined the National Rehabilitation Center, Abu Dhabi as Nursing Unit Manager and subsequently appointed Director of Nursing. In 2017, she was assigned to manage the Director-General’s Technical Office. In 2019 she was appointed Acting Medical Services Sector Director, in addition to her responsibilities in the DG’s Technical Office.
Dr Samya Al Memari is the Chair of the International Society of Addiction Professionals (ISSUP) UAE National Chapter and Eastern Mediterranean Deputy Regional President of the World Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation (WAPR). She is also a member of a number of committees at the national level. During her career she has been an invited speaker at many conferences, particularly as an inspirational speaker to encourage young female Emirati professionals to take up leadership roles. She also has several publications.