JEDDAH, 17 July 2005 — Higher Education Minister Dr. Khaled Al-Anqari has approved curricula for academic programs in medicine, pharmacology and dentistry at Ibn Sina College for Medical Sciences, according to Dr. Rashad Kashgari, its principal.
He said the college will admit 120 male and female students each for its medicine and pharmacology programs and 60 students for dentistry. “We plan to admit 300 students in the next academic year,” he added.
The college has already stared admitting the first batch of female students for medicine, pharmacology and dentistry programs and first batch of male students for dentistry.
Covering an area of 23,000 sq. mt., the college, the largest in Jeddah, was established at cost of SR130 million. It is designed to accommodate more than 10,000 students in all its specializations.
Dr. Kashgari said the curricula were prepared under the supervision of Prince Abdullah Institute for Research at King Saud University in Riyadh, adding that most of them were drawn from those of American and Canadian universities.
“We have approved a comprehensive syllabus that has been applied in 240 international medical colleges including those in Harvard, Toronto, Sydney and Maastricht,” he said.
The teachers include staff from Saudi universities, Britain and Arab countries. “We have already recruited highly qualified and experienced staff for all subjects including anatomy, functions of organs, biochemistry, psychology and community medicine,” he added.
The college is now in the process of building a large reference library for students and faculty members and establishing an internal computer network.
“Ibn Sina is also planning to open a medical technology program and another on providing diplomas in nursing,” he said.
To be eligible for admission, applicants in medicine or dentistry must have a Saudi high school diploma or its academic equivalent. The overall high school average must be at least 85 percent, with nothing lower than that in English or scientific subjects.
In order to qualify for admission, application must be made within three years of the date of the diploma. Students must pass an entrance examination and will also have a personal interview. Pharmacology students must satisfy the same conditions although their percentage for acceptance grade is 80 percent.
