JEDDAH, 11 June 2008 — Twenty deserving high school graduates from all over the Islamic world will be able pursue medical studies free of cost on the basis of a scholarship program at a private college in Jeddah.
The selection process of the students — 10 men and 10 women — will depend on their performance in a program aired by a private satellite TV channel.
This follows a collaboration agreement signed between Al-Resala, a Saudi satellite broadcasting channel, and Jeddah-based Batterjee Medical College (BMC). The channel will air “Al-Forsan” (the Knights) program for the contestants. The program will run for 12 weeks, each episode lasting 45 minutes, from June 15.
Dr. Mohamed Tarek Al-Suwaidan, general manager, Al-Resala Satellite TV Channel, said: “Our primary goal in airing the Knights Program is to promote a sense of leadership and commitment to education and ethics among young Muslims. We aim in this program to choose students who have the talent and potential to achieve highest levels of medical education in their academic and medical careers.”
The applicants will be tested during the channel’s Al-Forsan program and their final selection will depend on their performance and personal interviews, he added.
Dr. Khaled Batterjee, dean of BMC, said: “We chose to partner with the Al-Resala channel in this project due to their seriousness and commitment to the advancement of the Islamic world. This program is in affiliation with Topengen German University and approved by King Abdul Aziz University,” he added.
He also gave a presentation on the various stages of development of the BMC, which received its first group of students in September 2006.
Sobhi Batterjee, president and CEO of Saudi German Hospitals Group, said the selected overseas students would have no difficulty in getting a student visa.
One of the leading private health care providers in the Middle East, the Saudi German Hospitals Group aims to become a key player in medical education by establishing five medical colleges in the region by the year 2010.
