University of Namibia's School of Medicine (better known as "UNAM School of Medicine") is a

medical school A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, or part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS, M ...

of the

University of Namibia The University of Namibia (UNAM) is a multi-campus public research university in Namibia, as well as the largest university in the country. It was established by an act of Parliament on 31 August 1992. Background UNAM comprises the follow ...

. It was established in 2009 and graduated its first Namibian trained medical doctors in 2016. The campus is located at the university's Hage Geingob Campus in

Windhoek North Windhoek (, , ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek in 202 ...

close to the

Windhoek Central Hospital Windhoek Central Hospital is a public hospital in Windhoek, Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to ...

where students do their referrals. It is the first and only medical school in Namibia.

History

In 1992, the

Government of Namibia The government of Namibia consists of the executive, the legislative and the judiciary branches. The Cabinet is the executive organ of government, implementing the laws of the country. It consists of the president, the prime minister and his dep ...

engaged with multiple stakeholders to establish a medical school in Namibia. Ten years later, in 2002, the

WHO Who or WHO may refer to: * Who (pronoun), an interrogative or relative pronoun * Who?, one of the Five Ws in journalism * World Health Organization Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Who, a creature in the Dr. Seuss book ''Horton Hear ...

Regional Office for Africa appointed an expert to spearhead this initiative and laid the foundation from which to build up the school supported by strong political commitments. The

Free University of Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public research university in Berlin, Germany. It is consistently ranked among Germany's best universities, with particular strengths in political science and t ...

and Oulu University of Finland have both demonstrated assistance in this exercise. Years later, in 2008, preparations and various establishments were concluded. A feasibility study was conducted in March 2008 which finally recommended the establishment of the School of Medicine. In 2009 the curriculum was finalised. The accreditation of the BPharm

curriculum In education, a curriculum (; : curricula or curriculums) is broadly defined as the totality of student experiences that occur in the educational process. The term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or to a view ...

was approved by the HPCNA and the university

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. The school opened its doors for it first 55 medical students intake in 2010. The department of

Pharmacy Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it links heal ...

was established in 2011 and the first intakes occurred in the same year. The second President of the Republic of Namibia, Dr

Hifikepunye Pohamba Hifikepunye Lucas Pohamba (born 18 August 1936) is a Namibian politician who served as the second president of Namibia from 21 March 2005 to 21 March 2015. He won the 2004 presidential election overwhelmingly as the candidate of SWAPO, and was ...

and the Founding Father Dr.

Sam Nujoma Samuel Shafiishuna Daniel Nujoma, (; born 12 May 1929) is a Namibian revolutionary, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served three terms as the first President of Namibia, from 1990 to 2005. Nujoma was a founding member and the first ...

, inaugurated the School of Medicine in 2012. The school was registered with the NQA in 2012. In 2016 the first graduates were released from the university. A school of dentistry was established in 2018. The UNAM School of Medicine programme has a population of about 380 students for its first five years of operation, including students from the wider SADC region.

Academic programmes

The School of Medicine is accompanied by the School of Pharmacy, the School of Public Health and the newly added School of Dentistry. The university offers both undergraduate and postgraduate degrees.

Undergraduate

* Bachelors of Medicine and Surgery (MBChB) * Bachelors of Pharmacy Honours (BPharm) * Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BChD) * Bachelor of Physiotherapy * Bachelor of Occupational Therapy

Postgraduate

* Master of Pharmacy

References

University of Namibia Medical schools in Namibia {{Namibia-university-stub