Gondar College of Medical Sciences
Encyclopedia
Gondar College of Medical Sciences is the oldest medical school in Ethiopia. Established as the Public Health College in 1954, it is located in Gondar
, the former capital of Ethiopia.
, the university offers about 42 undergraduate and 17 postgraduate programs. These are organized under the College of Medicine and Health Sciences, five faculties (Faculty of Business and Economics, Faculty of Natural and Computational Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, and Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Faculty of Agriculture) in a second college, and three schools (School of Law, School of Technology and School of Education).
, Marsae Hazan Wolde Qiros, and the government of the United States April 1954. The Ethiopian government signed a similar agreement with the World Health Organization
September of that year. These agreements specified that the College would consist of four parts: a training school, a hospital, and awraja and municipal health departments. As a result, the College played a significant role in improving public health in Gondar over the next few years.
The training school's mission was to supply middle-level health professionals who would man a network of health centers distributed across the country. Each center would be staffed by a health officer, a community nurse, a sanitarian and a laboratory technician, and was expected to care for about 50,000. The first ones were built around Gondar, but as the Public Health College came to be responsible for the public health of Begemder Province, they were forced to build new centers ever further away.
One of the results of signing a new treaty between the United States and Ethiopia in June 1960 was the upgrade of the Public Health College to full college status However, when Haile Selassie University (since renamed Addis Ababa University
) became a chartered institution, it received the responsibility for all higher education in the country, and the Public Health College was made a part of the University. Its innovative program based on field work, and its work to improve public health in Gondar and Begemder province were replaced by an emphasis on academic coursework which led to a Bachelor of Science in Public Health.
While remaining part of Addis Ababa University, Gondar College was reorganized with the help of Karl Marx University in East Germany (now known as Leipzig University in 1978; in 1992, the College regained its autonomy. The subsequent creation of a Faculty of Management Science and Economics, a Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities and a Faculty of Applied Natural Sciences enabled the college to grow into University College in 2003; the following year the institution was renamed the University of Gondar.
Gondar
Gondar or Gonder is a city in Ethiopia, which was once the old imperial capital and capital of the historic Begemder Province. As a result, the old province of Begemder is sometimes referred to as Gondar...
, the former capital of Ethiopia.
, the university offers about 42 undergraduate and 17 postgraduate programs. These are organized under the College of Medicine and Health Sciences, five faculties (Faculty of Business and Economics, Faculty of Natural and Computational Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, and Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Faculty of Agriculture) in a second college, and three schools (School of Law, School of Technology and School of Education).
History
The Public Health College was established following an agreement signed by the acting Ethiopian minister of public healthPublic health
Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals" . It is concerned with threats to health based on population health...
, Marsae Hazan Wolde Qiros, and the government of the United States April 1954. The Ethiopian government signed a similar agreement with the World Health Organization
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...
September of that year. These agreements specified that the College would consist of four parts: a training school, a hospital, and awraja and municipal health departments. As a result, the College played a significant role in improving public health in Gondar over the next few years.
The training school's mission was to supply middle-level health professionals who would man a network of health centers distributed across the country. Each center would be staffed by a health officer, a community nurse, a sanitarian and a laboratory technician, and was expected to care for about 50,000. The first ones were built around Gondar, but as the Public Health College came to be responsible for the public health of Begemder Province, they were forced to build new centers ever further away.
One of the results of signing a new treaty between the United States and Ethiopia in June 1960 was the upgrade of the Public Health College to full college status However, when Haile Selassie University (since renamed Addis Ababa University
Addis Ababa University
Addis Ababa University is a university in Ethiopia. It was originally named "University College of Addis Ababa" at its founding, then renamed for the former Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie I in 1962, receiving its current name in 1975.Although the university has six of its seven campuses within...
) became a chartered institution, it received the responsibility for all higher education in the country, and the Public Health College was made a part of the University. Its innovative program based on field work, and its work to improve public health in Gondar and Begemder province were replaced by an emphasis on academic coursework which led to a Bachelor of Science in Public Health.
While remaining part of Addis Ababa University, Gondar College was reorganized with the help of Karl Marx University in East Germany (now known as Leipzig University in 1978; in 1992, the College regained its autonomy. The subsequent creation of a Faculty of Management Science and Economics, a Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities and a Faculty of Applied Natural Sciences enabled the college to grow into University College in 2003; the following year the institution was renamed the University of Gondar.