Kasr-el-Aini Medical School

Introduction

The Kasr Alainy Medical School is part of Cairo University, and is located in Garden City near downtown Cairo. Kasr Alainy Medical School is one of the largest, oldest, and most prestigious medical schools in Africa and the Middle East. Established in 1827, it was named after Al-Ainy Pacha, whose palace was originally the school's main building. The word "Kasr Alainy" literally means "Alainy's Palace" in Arabic. It accepts about 750 students annually out of the thousands of applicants who apply. The students are chosen by a computer program based on the score they have achieved in high school. It provieds a 6 year combined premedical-medical programme leading to a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery which is usually followed by a 1 year internship at the university hospital.

History

It was out of the desire for expansion that the School of Medicine was moved from the Abou Zaabal suburb of Cairo to Garden City in 1837. This new site was preferred not only because it could accommodate 1,500 beds and 300 students (at that time), but also because it was situated at the heart of Cairo, compared to the Abou Zaabal suburb, which lies on the outskirts of the Egyptian capital.

Kasr Alainy takes its name from the influential man, El-Mokerr El-Shehabi Ahmed Ibn Alainy, who built it in the 15th century as a residential palace. It then became a hotel for the very rich and for world leader visiting the capital. It remained that way til the French Occupation of Egypt which transformed the palace into a military hospital.

Later, the Egyptian government found that it needed to make the hospital and school more spacious to accommodate more patients and students to cope with the increasing demand so the hospital and the school were transferred from Abou Zaabal to Garden City.

Present

Today, the Kasr Alainy Medical School is considered the largest and best medical school in Egypt, and one of the best in the Middle East. It's very the second best medical school in Egypt today is said to be "Ain Shams Medical School". These two medical schools only accept the highest scoring high school students, and it's the dream of most Egyptian students wanting to be doctors to be accepted in Either of these schools.

= Hospitals =