The Ottoman Medical School of Damascus and its Effect on Medicine Teaching in Syria

By:
Abdul Nasser Kaadan, MD, h D!

Chairman, History of Medicine Department, Aleppo University! The President of ISHIM (www.ishim.net) Consultant, Orthopedic Sur er! P.O. "o#$ %&'(, )leppo, S!ria e-mail: a.kaadan@scs-net.org Phone 963 944 300030, Fax 963 21 2236 26 "# * !- * $ % *www.ishim.net) &" " (' "%# / 23 01 * ! ('/ +,-. $45 a.+aadan,scs-net.or >@?A = !:<8 :;; 899989 67

Abstract
"n #$%&, Sultan Abdul 'ameed the second issued an e(ecuti)e order to establish the Ottoman Medical School in Damascus* Official inauguration too+ ,lace on August &# of the same year at al-Salhia street in Damascus* Actual teaching began t.o months after the inauguration* The ,ur,ose of this ,a,er is to s,read light on the )arious stages this school .ent through since its ince,tion, and to re)eal its im,ortant role in graduating so many ,hysicians and ,harmacists, in addition to the founding of the Arabic Medical School of Damascus, and the usage of Arabic language in teaching medical sciences u, to date*

Introduction$ "efore tal+in a.out the Ottoman Medical School of /amascus, I would li+e to mention .riefl! the two medical schools of Tur+e! durin the nineteenth centur!, as man! S!rian ph!sicians were raduated from, then wor+ed at the )ra.ic Medical School of /amascus. (- The Militar! Shahanian School for Medicine and Pharmac! . Teachin .e an at this school in ('0%, and it was in 1rench lan ua e until (''2 when .ecame in Ottoman. 0- The Ci3ilian Shahanian School for Medicine and Pharmac! . 1ounded in ('45. teachin .e an in 1rench, then in ('55 it .ecame in Ottoman. Since (4%5 until (622 (durin 0& !ears) &'7 ph!sicians and 770 pharmacists were raduated, .elon in to man! reli ions and nations includin man! S!rians, such as$ )hmad 8ate.., 8e9a Said, Sade+ Tara.ishi, Taher :a9aeri, ).dul ;ader Serri and Maichael Shamendi. The Ottoman Medical School of /amascus$ Since ('6%, The Ottoman state decided to found man! medical schools in Tur+e! and in other important cities. which were under their rule, as there was se3ere deficienc! in the num.er of ph!sicians, for facin

the reat necessit! of health care in these re ions at that time. /r. ;ha!reddin Pasha was commissioned to prepare a comprehensi3e stud!, re3ealin the health situation and its re<uirements at the re ions which He a9i railroad line runs. On =anuar! &, (62( he pro3ided a report includes that this railroad line would create reat social and economic de3elopments at that re ion, re<uirin the need for man! ph!sicians .rin in up and li3in there, so the! can tolerate the difficult climate of that area. To achie3e this purpose. /r. ;ha!reddin Pasha su ested to found a school for medicine teachin in /amascus, for raduatin man! ph!sicians and pharmacists .elon in to that re ion. It seems that the thou ht of esta.lishin a medical school in /amascus was stated .! man! Ottoman officials, and .efore ;ha!reddin Pasha had introduced his report, in 3iew of the fact that in a report of the Shahanian medical societ! was pu.lished on the first of Septem.er (622, on the occasion of the 0&th anni3ersar! of Sultan ).dul Hameed ((>s hold on power. This report re3ealed that a forthcomin school for medical and pharmaceutical teachin s will .e esta.lished in /amascus. This was accordin to a wor+ plan and an e#pense estimation which had .een a reed. In this stand, we can also sa! that the other aim for esta.lishin this school, was to face the )merican protestant and 1rench medical schools in "eirut, which were founded? in the second half of the nineteenth centur! for missionar! purposes. On )pril 4, (624 Sultan ).dul Hammed II issued an e#ecuti3e order to esta.lish the Ottoman Medical School of /amascus. Official inau uration too+ place on )u ust 4( of the same !ear, at @i3er Pasha palace in Salhi!a street in /amascus. )ctual teachin .e an two months after the inau uration. @i3er Pasha palace was a lar e .uildin , containin man! hu e halls where chemistr!, .iolo !, anatom! and ph!siolo ! la.oratories were e<uipped, in addition to the teachin halls. Clinical sessions were ta+in place at what was called )I-Hameed! or forei ners hospital. Ae can sa! this school was the first medical school in modern terms, which was founded .! the Ottomen in the )ra.ic pro3inces under their rule. The Ottoman medical school of /amascus pro3ided .oth medical and pharmaceutical education, .oth fields were tau ht in the Ottoman lan ua e. Students were recei3in lessons to impro3e their Ottoman lan ua e.

)mon Ottoman lan ua e teachers were$ ).dul Aaha. )I-Bn leesi, ).dul ;ader )I-)9em and )sa>d "e h =ameel. )mon other teachers of the school. )li 8e9a for dermatolo !, Moustafa )I-Operator! and Mahmoud :he!ath )ldeen for sur er!, Or+han ).di for internal medicine. ).dullah )l- ;ahhal for ophthalmolo !, Cephor "e h and Moustapha "e h for chemistr!. Said "e h =ameel for ph!siolo !. The teachin duration for medical student was si# !ears, four !ears were spent in the school .uildin , and the last two !ears were spent .etween the school and )I-Hameed! hospital, where clinical sessions were deli3ered to the students in front of the patient>s .eds. The num.er of students in the first !ear of the school (the !ear of inau uration) was twent! fi3e students, fifteen of them were in medicine department, while ten were in pharmac! department. In (62& this num.er .ecame (20 students. fift! si# of them were in medicine department, and fort! si# were in pharmac! department. These were the num.ers which Prof. B+meleddin lhsano lu has mentioned. "ut /r. 8e9a Said (who was contemporar! to the school) and /r. Shaw+at )I-Shatti from S!ria had stated the num.er of students in the first !ear of the school as fort!. In (6(0, a new .uildin for the school was founded at the south court!ard of )I-Hameed! hospital, contained a lower- floor for la.oratories, and an upper floor for medical and pharmaceutical teachin halls. Students .e an attendin this new .uildin on March 0(, (6(7. The 1irst Aorld Aar and mo3in the school to "eirut$ In =ul! (6(7, the 1irst Aorld Aar .e an. Man! teachers and students of the medical school were called for militar! ser3ice, so the school was closed until the end of that !ear. In (6(&, it was clear to the Ottoman officials that it is necessar! to raduate man! ph!sicians. So the! decided to mo3e the school to the 1rench medical school in "eirut, which was completel! e3acuated .ecause of the war at that time. In (6(&, teachin resumed onl! for the second class students, then in (6(5, teachin resumed for all classes, as all the teachers and students were e#empted from the militar! ser3ice. The 1rench hospital was used for clinical teachin sessions.

The 1irst Aorld Aar ended latel! in (6('. and "eirut .ecame occupied .! the alliances. The Ottomans ha3e withdrawn from it, =esuit fathers returned their 1rench medical school. "! this, the era of the Ottoman medical school of /amascus ended. Therefore, its life span lasts fifteen !ears. /urin this period 072 ph!sicians, and 0'6 pharmacists ha3e raduated. Most of them were S!rians, few Tur+s and )rmenians who li3ed in S!ria at that time. The )ra. Medical School of /amascus$ /espite that the Ottoman Medical School, >of /amascus had 3anished in )u ust (6(' followin the 1irst Aorld Aar. it has left 3er! positi3e effects. The )ra.ic Medical School of /amascus was esta.lished as a continuation for the Ottoman Medical School in (6(6. Dpon termination of the Ottoman Medical School in /amascus and "eirut, more than a hundred of its medicine and pharmac! students ha3e .ecome without continuin stud!, and most or them were to .e raduated few months later. Some of those students ha3e referred the officials of the first )ra. o3ernment for this issue, to persuade them to reopen the medical school. )fter a lon de.ate it was decided to open a school in /amascus for medicine and pharmac! teachin , and to .e as a su.stitute to the Ottoman school. It was decided to resume teachin at the same .uildin after it had .een repaired and ree<uipped. On =anuar! 04, (6(6 an inau uration too+ place at the court!ard of )IHameed! hospital, and attended .! man! hi h ran+ officials. This school was called ?The )ra. Medical School?. Teachin was underta+en .! man! )ra. ph!sicians and pharmacists, most of them ha3e raduated either from the Ottoman Medical School of /amascus, or from the medical schools of Istan.ul. Here are some teacher>s names$ 8e9a Said (('%5-(67&)$ :raduated from the militar! medical school of Istan.ul in (620. he was appointed as a first dean for the )ra. Medical School of /amascus. )hmad 8ate. (('%%-(652)$ :raduated from the militar! school of Istan.ul. He was a sur eon at the )ra. Medical School. l.rahim )I-Satti (('60-(6.&7)$ :raduated from the Ottoman Medical School. He was the teacher of o.stetric and !necolo !.

).dul ;ader Serri ((''2-(67&)$ :raduated from the militar! medical school of Istan.ul. He was the teacher of anatom! at the )ra. Medical School. =ameel )I-;hani ((''6-(6&()$ :raduated from the Ottoman Medical School of /amascus in (6((. He pla!ed an important role in medicine )ra.isation. ).dul Aaha. )I-Eanawati (('6(-(6%%)$ :raduated from the Ottoman Medical School as a pharmacist in (6((. He was the teacher of chemistr! at the )ra. Medical School. Hamdi )I-;ha!at (('66-(6'()$ :raduated from the Ottoman Medical School in "eirut in (6(%. He has tau ht .acteriolo ! at the )ra. Medical School. Housni Sa.ah ((622-(6'5)$ :raduated from the )ra. Medical School in (6(6. He was the teacher of internal medicine. Shaw+at )I-Shatti ((622-(6%')$ :raduated from the )ra. Medicine School in (60(. He was the teacher of histolo !, em.r!o lo ! and patholo !. The )ra.ic lan ua e was used for teachin from the .e innin . "ein that all medical terms tau ht in the Ottoman Medical Schools were written in )ra.ic alpha.ets, and mostl! were ta+en from the )ra.ic medical herita e. These are some medical terms$

Conclusion$

In (624, Sultan ).dul Hammed II issued an e#ecuti3e order to esta.lish the Ottoman Medical School in /amascus. This school pro3ided .oth medical and pharmaceutical education, .oth fields were tau ht in the Ottoman lan ua e. This school was the first medical school in modern terms which was founded .! the Ottomans in the )ra.ic pro3inces under their rule. /espite that this school had 3anished in )u ust (6(', followin the 1irst Aorld Aar. it has left 3er! positi3e effects. The )ra.ic- Medical School of /amascus was esta.lished as a continuation for that school in (6(6. and was a.le from the .e innin to teach in the )ra.ic lan ua e. .ein that all medical terms tau ht in the Ottoman Medical School were written in )ra.ic alpha.ets, and mostl! were ta+en from the )ra.ic medical herita e.

8B18BFCBS
-)l-Shatti, )hmed Shaw+at, histor! of )ra. medicine in the late centuries, Dni3ersit! of /amascus pu.lications, (652. -"ro+elman ;arl, The histor! of Islamic nations (in )ra.ic) 'th Bdition Science house for Millions, "eirut, (6%6. -Ihsano lu, B+meleddin, Primar! stud! on the Ottoman medical Institution in S!ria, paper presented in the (4th. Conference of )ra.ic histor! of Science, Tartus * S!ria, Ma! (6'6. -Ihsano lu, B+meleddin, Few Ottoman medical institutions in S!ria (Tur+ish) Tur+ish histor! council, )n+ara (666. ***