Dr. Yasser Al-Aska has been director general of the Saudi Patient Safety Center (SPSC) since February. The center aims to raise awareness of patient safety and strengthen and improve the culture of best practices in patient safety in all health institutions throughout the Kingdom.
It also conducts research to improve the quality of health facilities, especially with regard to patient safety.
Al-Aska received a bachelor’s degree in medicine from King Saud University (KSU) in 2006. He also obtained an Arab Board of Emergency Medicine certification from the Arab Board of Health Specializations in 2012.
That year, he was also granted the same certification from the Saudi Commission of Health Specialties. From 2017 to 2020, he directed KSU’s Clinical Skills and Simulation Center (KSU-CSSC).
Al-Aska, who has been an emergency medicine assistant professor at KSU since 2016, was also deputy director of KSU-CSSC from 2016 to 2017. Al-Aska also worked as director of the residency training program and postgraduate studies at KSU’s department of emergency medicine.
From 2010 to 2011, he was chief resident at the Saudi Board of Emergency Medicine program, a substantial residency-training program and the largest emergency program in the region.
From 2007 to 2012, he worked as an emergency medicine resident at King Khalid University. For nearly one year beginning in 2013, he served as a fellow at the Lifespan Medical Simulation Center, Rhode Island, US.
From 2013 to 2015, he worked as a teaching fellow of disaster medicine and emergency preparedness at Brown University.
As an academic, Al-Aska’s research and studies focus mainly on current issues in emergency medicine, disaster preparedness and medical simulation. He is dedicated to the improvement of emergency care experience and medical education within his country and beyond.
