JEDDAH, 12 February 2006 — The construction of Batterjee College for Medical Sciences & Technology (BMC) in Obhur, described as the first integrated private college in the Kingdom, is nearing completion.

Student enrollments will start in June and the SR375-million BMC complex will become operational in September, Sobhi Batterjee, president of the Saudi-German Hospitals Group (SGHG), told a press conference here yesterday.

“BMC is considered to be the biggest and the most modern medical college in the Middle East,” he said, adding that it has been established by Bait Al-Batterjee Company for Medical Projects. It includes nine medical colleges and institutes with a total capacity for 4,000 students.

The complex covers an area of 100,000 square meters and has been designed with the most modern European technology.

“The educational strategy at SGHG keeps in pace with its vision to establish 30 world-class hospitals in the Arab and Islamic world thus creating 50,000 jobs in the health sector by the year 2015,” Batterjee said.

“It has been equipped with the technologies for studies in cooperation with King Abdul Aziz University, College of Medicine at the German Tupengen University, South Africa University for Allied Health Sciences and US-based University of Nebraska.

“The program for BMC’s colleges of pharmacy, nursing, physiotherapy, health administration and allied medical sciences starts from September,” said Khaled Batterjee, dean of the BMC.

“The course lasts for four years at all colleges except medicine, which will take six years, and the dentistry and pharmacy that will take five years,” he said.

The Saudi Higher Education Ministry, the Saudi Council for Health Specialties and some of the German and African universities will accredit the BMC certificates.

Professor Samir Mossa, vice dean of BMC, said the curriculum had been designed to suit the local community and situation.

“It will be both academic and vocational and students will be exposed to both clinical and case studies so that when they graduate they will have adequate experience before entering the profession,” Mossa said.

“They will be exposed to some 400 common medical cases in a bid to make them efficient and competent.”