University of al-Jazirah

University of Gezira
جامعة الجزيرة
Type Public[1]
Established 1975
Vice-Chancellor Prof. Mohammed Omer Warrag
Location Wad Medani, Sudan
Campuses 5
Website www.uofg.edu.sd

University of Gezira, or U of G, is a public university located in Wad Medani, Sudan. It is a member of the Federation of the Universities of the Islamic World.[2]

History

The University Of Gezira (U. of G.) was established in 1975 by the mayor and then governor Abdelrahim Mahmoud and his cousin Mohamed-Alhaj Mekki Medani, along with the help of president Gaafar Nimeiry at Wad Madni City in central Sudan. The university is close to one of the biggest agricultural projects in Africa – the Gezira Project. The school's main objective is to supply the project with high-caliber graduates. It is considered to be one of the leading universities in Sudan. It is famous for its schools of medicine and agriculture. The former has adopted a modern form of medical education based on problem-solving and is respected as a pioneer in medical education with establishment of a community-oriented education model that was adopted later by multiple medical schools in the country.

University of Gezira was the first university built out of the capital Khartoum. The mission of the institution was to create a regional university for training of personnel to service the large Gezira Scheme. The Gezira state is one of the most distinctive and affluent areas of the country and considered to be the cornerstone of the country's economy. Initially, there were a handful of schools, but today the university has expanded to fourteen schools and four institutes.

Colleges

Faculty of Medicine

Gezira University is famous for its medical school, considered a top institute for medical education and research in the country. Throughout the years, the school has graduated a highly qualified physicians who went back and served their communities. The curriculum is built on the modern philosophy of problem-based learning (PBL). The center of this learning experience is the medical student. The medical education is presented in a set of structural problems, students are then required to take active roles, usually as groups, in organizing and directing the learning process in the presence of a tutor. Advocates of PBL claim it can be used to enhance content knowledge and foster the development of communication, problem-solving, and self-directed learning skill.

The school is a home for a WHO collaborating center, a core center for the public health education and research. The school model of community-oriented education has been contributing to the development of health awareness in the region. It has also grown to be a highly active research center for endemic diseases such as malaria and bilharziasis. Both of which are water-born diseases mostly related to agricultural activities of the region residents.

The school adopted multiple reforms and expansion of its faculty and staff. It has also increased its capacity of admission. Over the last 10 years, the faculty of medicine has been a destination for multiple students from the Middle East and east Africa. The teaching hospital of the faculty of medicine is the largest hospital outside Khartoum. It serves the whole region, acting as a main referral center. A separate children's hospital is also a major training site for the medical students.

The mission of the Faculty of Medicine University of Gezira (FMUG) states its commitment to develop its community through improvement and sustainment of health.

FMUG has strong partnerships with Ministry of Health and the community. They work in harmony to achieve the concept towards unity for health, through health professionals education, service and research. FMUG is a pioneer in COME in the EMRO region. The faculty has accumulated a paramount of experience in curriculum development, innovation and evaluation.

FMUG is the leader of innovative medical education in the Sudan. It has influenced most of the faculties in Sudan: About 13 new faculties adopted the Gezira system completely and traditional faculties are modifying their curriculum towards community-oriented and problem-based education.

The FMUG has strong links with national and international educational institutes. The staff participate in teaching and evaluation of undergraduate and postgraduate students in all the faculties of health sciences in the country. The FMUG is a member in Sudan Medical Council, Sudan National Council for Medical Specialties.

FMUG has adopted the following strategies to achieve its objectives:

Characteristic features of the curriculum

Students

There are usually five to six batches at one time and 230 students in each batch. The FMUG offers scholarship to neighbouring African and Arab countries and a good number of foreign students are enrolled on private basis.

The students have an active role in the education process and this could be summarized in the following:

Graduates

Twenty-eight batches were graduated so far amounting to over 3,660 doctors working in the Sudan and abroad. Many of the graduates are staff members in FMUG.

International links

The school has a strong international links and the following are examples:

Network - TUFH, T

The Network is an international NGO collaborating with WHO and other organizations. FMUG is a founding member and a full member in the Network. Two of the staff were executive committee members 1983-1984/1993-1997. Two of the students of FMUG were executive committee members. FMUG is constantly participating in the TUFH annual conferences since its establishment. About 200 abstracts have been submitted and presented in posters sessions. The faculty delegation included students and a community representative (this is unique to FMUG delegate since 2000).

WHO

There is close collaboration between the WHO and the school through the following:

Other institutes

Services provided by the school

Educational Development Centre

Established in 1978 with the enrollment of the first batch of students, it is the only national centre collaborating with WHO. Its main objectives are:

Activities:

The centre runs the following courses periodically for the new and old staff of the faculty and the neighbouring by health sciences institutes:

Primary Health Care and Health Education Centre

The centre was established in 1995 as a result of joining of the primary health care centre (established in 1985 in collaboration with Columbia University) and the health education centre (established in 1986 in collaboration with WHO). The main objectives of the centre are to improve the primary health care and health education services management, research and resources.

Activities of the Centre:

Health-related services
Institute of Nuclear Medicine, Molecular Biology and Oncology

It is a diagnostic, treating and training centre established in 1995. It has four departments: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Department of Oncology and Radiotherapy. Department of Medical Radiation physics and Department of Molecular Biology.

Blue Nile Research and Training Institute

Started its activity in 1995 as a continuation of the Blue Nile Health Project 1980-1990, as an academic institute under supervision of FMUG with collaboration of WHO and state Ministry of Health. The main activities of the centre focus on malaria as a major health problem in Sudan. The intended persons are doctors and other health and health-related personnel.

Community development

The school participates through its intra and extra-curriculum activities in community, involving mobilization and development

Student training

The students of FMUG are trained in all community levels; 300 villages were covered through the interdisciplinary Field Training Research and Rural Development Programme and more than 1,500 families were covered through the Primary Health Care Centre Practice and Family Medicine Programme.

Activities in the villages

In a study in 30 villages presented recently in the Net-work conference, Brazil 2001 the students activities were as follows: - Establishment and development of water resource in 17 villages - Establishment and development of health units in 10 villages - Help in introduction of electricity in one village - Establishment of 2 classroom in a school - Establishment of T.B. prevention unit - Health education programme and environmental health programmes in all the villages. - Indicators of results of student intervention (Referring to the above-mentioned study) - Increase percentage of use of pure water - Increase percentage of use of gas instead of charcoal and wood - Increase percentage of use of latrines - Increase percentage of use of insecticides in homes - Increase percentage of use of antenatral care services - Decrease incidence rate of diarrhoeal diseases, febrile illnesses and ARI in children less than 5 years. - Decrease in the incidence rate of malaria and bilharziasis - Impact of student’s training on the families - 1500 families were covered through the PHCCP & FM modules. The families got great benefit from the student raining. In study presented in the Network conference, Brazil 2001. - 68% of students assisted in solving the families’ problems (health, economic or social problems) - 88% of the families used some of the elements of PHC as a result of intervention by students - 82% of the students applied the element of the PHC in solving the family problems. Staff activities - Participate with community in all cultural and social aspects - Responding to seasonal crisis and disasters - Involvement in rural development committees

Postgraduate activities

The FMUG offers postgraduate degrees in both professional and social and health sciences either separately or in collaboration with the Sudan Council for Medical Specialties:

References

  1. ↑ "Sudanese higher education". Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research. Retrieved 2011-09-15.
  2. ↑ "Member Universities". Federation of the Universities of the Islamic World. Retrieved 2011-09-17.

External links

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