$65 million University to offer world class medical education from Bahrain
Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain – 2 February 2009 – Under the patronage of
His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Salman Al Khalifa Prime Minister, Kingdom of Bahrain, The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland - Medical University of Bahrain (“RCSI – MUB”) campus will be officially opened by Her Excellency Mary McAleese President of Ireland at 12pm on 3rd February.
Located in Busaiteen, RCSI-Bahrain offers students of the university a new campus fully equipped with the latest in medical learning facilities. This includes a state-of-the-art skills lab, an electronic database, digital resources, wireless connectivity to facilitate e-learning and a sports centre.
The opening of the new campus marks the success RCSI has had in establishing medical colleges and providing internationally recognized medical and nursing programs across the region. RCSI-Bahrain’s architecture is symbolic of its ambition to build on this success, with Celtic and Islamic motifs and drawings from the history of the two cultures being incorporated into the design of the building. Comprised of two main areas, the building is connected by bridges and galleries.
A constituent university of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, RCSI-Bahrain has a capacity of 2,000 students and aims to provide healthcare education and training to world standards for students from Bahrain, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar. It also offers students from the Middle East a learning environment in which they will practice as healthcare professionals. The university now has 540 students, all studying for either general medical qualifications or nursing degrees. Approximately 40 per cent of the student class studying to be doctors are Bahraini and another 40 per cent are from Gulf regions. The remaining 20 per cent of students are from Canada and a diverse number of countries around the world.
The President of RCSI-Bahrain, Professor Kevin O’Malley, commented, “In a short four years since RCSI-Bahrain’s establishment in Bahrain, our student numbers have risen from just 27 in 2004 to nearly 550 now and are made up of over 30 different nationalities. Our medical student intake is now 120 per year. The new $65 million campus offers a state-of-the-art learning facility for medical and nursing students from the region. RCSI-Bahrain offers a fantastic opportunity for prospective medical students to receive a world class medical education from some of the world’s best medical professionals in one of the world’s newest medical teaching facilities. Today’s opening is the culmination of a strong partnership the RCSI has developed with the government of Bahrain and we hope to take this partnership from strength to strength as Bahrain develops as a regional and global centre of excellence for medical education and training.”
As a medical university, RCSI-Bahrain will work closely with Bahrain’s Ministry of Health hospitals and the Bahrain Defence Force Royal Medical Services Hospital, enabling students to develop their skills further in a real life medical environment. In addition, a new hospital being built alongside the campus, the King Hamad General Hospital, will be a teaching hospital for the university once it opens next year.
Medical graduates of RCSI-Bahrain are awarded degrees in Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery and the Bachelor of the Art of Obstetrics (MB, BCh, BAO). In addition, they will also receive Licentiate of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and the Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland.
The Medical School has been accredited by the GCC Medical Schools Deans’ Committee and is included in the World Health Organization, Directory of Medical Schools.
“Healthcare is fundamental to the future success of Bahrain and the GCC. The economic strategies that foresee GCC states diversifying their economies away from hydrocarbon revenues to more knowledge driven economies requires the foundation of a healthy population. With the healthcare market in Dubai alone set to grow by 14% in the next 5 years, medical teaching facilities such as RCSI-Bahrain are important elements in ensuring the continued growth of the medical sector in Bahrain and the GCC,” concluded Kevin O’Malley.