A collaboration between Monash University and the University of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates is raising Monash’s profile in the Middle East and helping to cement its reputation as a global university.

As part of a multi-million dollar agreement, Monash’s MBBS curriculum and teaching materials are being adapted to form a new medical course that will be delivered at the University of Sharjah. In addition, the agreement uses Monash expertise in determining the infrastructure needs of the University of Sharjah’s purpose-built medical facility.

Professor Ed Byrne said Monash is delighted to be entering into a partnership with the University of Sharjah. “This is an opportunity for Monash to be a part of an exciting project which will help build a significant relationship between Australia and a stable, moderate and friendly part of the Middle East.” He said it was testimony to the quality of the Monash MBBS course that it was chosen over other offerings from Europe and the US.

Ms Jennifer Lindley, a member of Professor Browne’s team, said that the experience gained through participation in this project would benefit the development of Monash’s MBBS curriculum at home. She said the project was providing exposure to alternative modes of delivery and expertise in the development of a curriculum that could cater to a range of cultures; an undoubted advantage in a multicultural student setting such as exists at Monash.

In addition, the Sharjah experience was overlaying a global perspective on health care training and helping to define the graduate attributes required of a global community. Ms Lindley said that the project would help show where Monash graduates sit within the context of a broader world view.

The University of Sharjah has literally risen from the desert sands over the last decade. Its magnificent buildings are now a major landmark in the region. Professor Browne said the very existence of the university, as well as the new medical school, was a testament to the vision and resolve of Sheikh Dr Sultan to establish Sharjah as the pre-eminent centre for world-class education and research in the gulf region.

“Sheikh Dr Sultan is president of the university and takes a close personal interest in all of its developments. It is common to see him ‘dropping in’ for a visit on Thursdays, the equivalent of Saturday in our western calendar, to meet with the Chancellor and senior university management for an update on progress of the university’s development,” he said.

Professor Browne said he hoped the coexistence of three state-of-the-art facilities for medical education, medical research and clinical medicine will lead to an expansion of the already healthy and growing relationship between the University of Sharjah and Monash University.

Sharjah is the third largest of the seven emirates in the UAE and prides itself on being the educational and cultural capital. The University of Sharjah, which was established in 1997, is a not-for-profit university, currently with about 5,600 predominantly Middle Eastern undergraduate students in eleven colleges. Once fully operational the university expects to enrol about 1600 students in medicine and pharmacy.

For further information regarding the relationship between the University of Sharjah and Monash University, please contact Professor Chris Browne at: chris.browne@med.monash.edu.au

Article and images kindly supplied by Professor Chris Browne.