Kuwait University (KU) was established in October 1966, five years after Kuwait's independence from Britain, as a result of an Amiri Decree. KU started with only two faculties, namely the Faculty of Science, Arts and Education; and a Women's College.[1] The university had 418 students enrolled and 31 faculty members. By (2005), the university grew to more than 19,000 students and over 1,000 faculty. The University is spread over four campuses: Khaldiya, Adailiah, Keyfan, and Shuwaikh. The Shuwaikh campus is, by far, the biggest one, as it houses many faculties.
Currently, KU has the following faculties:
- College of Allied Health Sciences (separated from College of Medicine in June 1982)
- College of Arts (separated on October 1967)
- College of Business Administration (est. as College of Economics and Political Science in April 1967) (Accredited by the AACSB)
- College of Dentistry (est. May 1996)
- College of Education (est. May 1980)
- College of Engineering and Petroleum (est. December 1974 ) - approved by ABET
- College of Law (est. April 1967)
- College of Medicine (est. July 1973)
- College of Pharmacy (est. February 1996)
- College of Sciences (separated on October 1967)
- College of Shari'a & Islamic Studies (est. 16 August, 1977)
Medical School
After several years of intense study and careful planning, the Faculty of Medicine was formed with the objectives of producing high quality health care professionals and medical scientists and playing a major role in the development and upgrading of the country's health care system.
Since its establishment in 1973, the Faculty of Medicine has developed into an internationally recognised medical school, serving Kuwait and the Gulf region. The number of students enrolled in the program has increased from 48 in 1976 to the present 90 students per year. The total number of students enrolled in the seven year medical program is currently 600.
1339 students have completed the seven year program and received the B.M.,B.Ch. degree since the first batch of students graduated in 1983. The Faculty employs 350 academic, technical and administrative staff.
The departments that make up the body of the Faculty of Medicine include Anatomy, Biochemistry, Community Medicine and Behavioural Science, Medicine, Microbiology, Nuclear Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Paediatrics, Pathology, Pharmacology and Toxicology, Physiology, Primary Care, Psychiatry, Radiology and Surgery. The Faculty has moved into a system based case-triggered integrated curriculum from academic year 2006-07. As a prelude to this, the curriculum of the Health Sciences Centre common year has been revised incorporating medically oriented basic courses, to be taught by the Health Sciences Centre staff.
Seven departments are currently running graduate programs, Anatomy, Biochemistry, Microbiology, Pathology, Physiology, Pharmacology and Nuclear Medicine. Since the programs began in 1983, more than 100 students have graduated. The Departments of Microbiology and Physiology are running both M.Sc. and Ph.D. programs. The Department of Pathology is approved to admit their first batch of Ph.D. students during the 2007-08 academic year.
In addition to Mubarak Al�Kabeer hospital, other facilities utilised for teaching purposes are Al-Amiri, Al-Adan, Maternity, Farwania, Jahra, Ahmadi, Sabah, Chest, Al-Razi, Psychiatric and Ibn Sina hospitals, as well as several polyclinics throughout Kuwait.
Teaching facilities housed inside the modern five storey medical school building include four lecture theatres, an auditorium, eight seminar rooms, seven multi�discipline laboratories, as well as a number of demonstration, seminar and conference rooms in the departments.
In addition, facilities at the newly commissioned Health Sciences Centre building are available to the use of the Faculty. A distance learning centre connecting two lecture theatres, Anatomy Dissecting room, a consultation room at the Faculty and an operation theatre at Mubarak Al-Kabeer hospital has already been commissioned. A virtual hospital (clinical skills lab) will be established shortly.
The technical facilities available to academic staff and students for research and teaching compare to those of older and more established institutions elsewhere in the world. As part of its increasing commitment to research and dedication to academic excellence, the Faculty maintains an equipment inventory in excess of 6 million Kuwaiti Dinars and includes three Jeol electron microscopes (one scanning and two transmissions), a General Electric gamma camera with an associated Star Computer, and a Siemens angiography unit. There are also several ultra centrifuges, gamma and beta counters, amino acid analyser in addition to numerous other sophisticated scientific and medical instruments.
The Faculty maintains a full complement of highly qualified biomedical engineers to maintain and repair most scientific equipment.
In addition to the professional services provided by the clinical academic staff serving the teaching hospital and the specialised units in other hospitals, each department in the Faculty of Medicine provides special services for the Ministry of Health including consultation services in various hospitals, sophisticated diagnostic tests, and a variety of highly specialised procedures including Therapeutic Drug Monitoring and Toxicological Screening, as well as conducting seminars and workshops to the medical community.
In addition to the teaching of medical students, the Faculty of Medicine also offers various courses of studies for the students of the Faculties of Allied Health Sciences, Pharmacy and Dentistry.
Future plans
Kuwait University approved a plan for a new 10 year project. The project involves construction of a new University City that will provide a modern campus with state of the art facilities for academic staff, students and other employees of Kuwait University. The Government of Kuwait has allocated 5.2 square kilometres of land in the Al Shadidiyah area for the project (not so far away from the Iraqi-Saudi border). The new campus will be co-educational with segregated facilities. It will include several faculties, dormitories, sports facilities and auditoriums as well as car parks for several thousand vehicles. There will also be a medical school and an associated 400-bed teaching hospital. The university city will be developed in stages over ten years and will eventually accommodate up to 40,000 students, permitting the consolidation of Kuwait University’s various existing campuses around the city. The campus will cost about $3 billion over ten years. The Master plan for the new university was carried out by a Canadian Consortium of Architects with the local SSHI design office. Currently, many design packages for the different colleges and administration buildings under design by top class international design firms. It is expected for the project to be completed by the academic year 2014-2015.
References
- ^ Miriam Joyce (1998). Kuwait, 1945-1996: an Anglo-American perspective. Routledge. ISBN 0714648639.
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