School of Medicine

Back ground

The School of Medicine was established as one academic constituent in the Mekelle University system in 2003 following the draft curriculum set to help the implementation of the proposal for the establishment of Doctorate degree in medicine Program within Mekelle University. The school accepted its first batch in 2004. Since then, it has been engaged in activities of teaching health care students in general and medical students in particular and more importantly, engaged in the medical services of preventive, curative and health promotion for the community.

Amidst the ever increasing and perhaps diversifying health care needs of the community, the school of Medicine has been working hard to apply the 3-R principle, i.e., recruit, reward and retain competent doctors and higher profile specialists under all its units with appreciable degrees of success. Moreover, in its grand aspiration of catching up with the realities of the 21st century medical education, the department has been hugely working on its man power development to attain a critical mass of the highly qualified specialists in all of its specialty areas. While this effort has started paying off in staffing all the functional specialty units of the school with the critical mass of specialized doctors needed to run the teaching, research and community services at the department, various mechanisms including contractual and short term employment schemes have been put in place to discharge its duties effectively. 

The clinical service at Ayder Referral Hospital stands right on the shoulders of the academic staff at the school. The clinical service includes attending outpatient clinics, making patient rounds and doing different procedures among which is included endoscopy and echocardiography. The staffs in the departments of Surgery, Orthopedics, Gynecology and obstetrics and ENT are fully engaged in operating patients. In addition to the teaching and research activities predefined as the duties of all academic staff in the University, the school is sustaining its efforts on man power development making the areas of sub-specialty the primary focus. As part of its community services, the school, through a grant obtained from the WHO, has been participating in Leishmania Control Project in Tigray via which cases of Leishmaniasis have been detected and referred to treatment at our University hospital. Moreover, through this program, which has now run effectively for over two years, the department has been providing health education to the general community, the students and the military mainly on the prevention of Leishmania infection. 

In response to the country’s demand for specialized medical practitioners, the school has already launched a residency program in general surgery and also wrapped up all the preliminary preparations to start such programs in four  more areas of specialty namely Forensic Medicine, Gynecology/Obstetrics, Internal medicine and Pediatrics. 

There are also post graduate programs for mid level health workers which include MSc program in emergency surgery and obstetrics, MSc program in common tropical infectious disease, MSc program in pediatrics and child health and the newly opening Msc program in tropical dermatology. 

The school has been able to solicit links with Universities in North America, Europe and Africa to strengthen its teaching, research and community services.The school of Medicine currently encompasses the following functional Department and units:

Departments

• Internal medicine department
• Surgery department
• Pediatrics department
• Dermatology/Venerology department
• Pathology department

Unit

• Orthopedic surgery Unit
• Gynecology/Obstetrics Unit
• ENT Unit
• Psychiatry Unit
• Radiology Units
• Ophthalmology Unit

Vision 

In line with the vision of the Mekelle University, the School of Medicine envisions to become the leading center of excellence in Africa for clinical service, research and medical education that produces whole rounded, competent and principled physicians responsive to societal needs.

Mission 

Our mission is to provide a high quality clinical service to the community and high quality medical education that qualifies our graduates to be medical doctors needed by developing/developed societies of the 21st century. In that sense, we are bespoke to produce competent, entrepreneurial, ethical and compassionate doctors, who can serve at all levels of the health care ladder, providing professional services for individuals, family and community in all the areas of rural and urban societies.

Complete address:

School of Medicine

College of Health Sciences

Mekelle University

P.o.box: 1871

Fax: +251344416681

Mekelle, Ethiopia