Yarmouk University and the Jordanian American Physicians Association (JAPA) signed a scientific memorandum of understanding with the aim of collaborating in the research and educational fields and providing training opportunities for medical students of Yarmouk in American health institutions. The memorandum was signed on behalf of Yarmouk by its president, Professor Islam Massad, and on behalf of the association by its president, Dr. Raed Hamed, in the presence of the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Dr. Manar Al-Lawama, and the Dean of Al-Hijjawi Faculty for Engineering Technology, Dr. Muwafaq Al-Otoum.

During the signing ceremony that took place at the headquarters of the United States of America, Massad gave a detailed presentation about Yarmouk’s plan to develop the Faculty of Medicine at all levels, including modernizing instructions, developing curricula, and placing study plans within the framework of national qualifications in a way that enhances the Faculty’s progress. He then pointed out that the Faculty of Medicine has created a postgraduate/master’s program in infection control and epidemiology, which is the first of its kind at the level of Jordanian universities. The program, he explained, aims at providing the health sector locally and regionally with qualified graduates in the targeted field, pointing out that this program is one of the unique specialties across the world. Massad then praised the prestigious status enjoyed by the Jordanian doctors working abroad, praising at the same time the distinguished national and pioneering role played by the Jordanian American Medical Association in opening channels of communication between Jordanian doctors in various American states and their counterparts in Jordanian hospitals.

For his part, Hamed expressed his admiration of the great development achieved by the Faculty of Medicine at Yarmouk University and the University’s efforts and vision in opening channels of communication with all international partners to enhance development, expressing the Association’s readiness to cooperate with the University to achieve its strategic goals of developing the Jordanian medical education. He also pointed out the Association’s involvement in several purposeful projects at the national level, as evident in its assistance of the health sector during the Corona pandemic as well as its consistent support of the first intensive care program in Jordan.

The Jordanian American Medical Association is a non-profit organization founded in 2020 that aims at encouraging cooperation among the Jordanian doctors in America and helping Jordanian doctors come to American universities and Faculties to complete their medical specialties.

02 July 2024

The Vice President of Yarmouk University for Academic Affairs, Professor Mousa Rababah, met with David Van Beveren, professor of Arabic language in the Department of translation at the Belgian University of Saint-Louis, to discuss ways of cooperation in the field of the Arabic language program for non-native speakers. At the beginning of the meeting, Rababah reviewed the emergence of the Arabic language program for non-native speakers at Yarmouk’s Language Centre, noting the program’s importance in teaching the Arabic language and attracting foreign students from various countries of the world. He then stressed the value of strengthening cooperation among international academic institutions interested in learning and teaching the Arabic language, highlighting the fact that Yarmouk’s Language Center offers online and distance learning courses to enable students from all over the world to join the program.

In her turn, the Director of the Language Center, Dr. Rana Kandil, welcomed the cooperation with Saint Louis University, pointing out the role of the Language Center in spreading the Arabic language and the Jordanian culture around the world.

For his part, Beveren praised the academic reputation of Yarmouk University and its excellence in teaching the Arabic language to non-native speakers, mentioning that he participated in the Arabic language program through the “Erasmus Plus” faculty exchange program, where he delivered some Arabic language lectures and attended some others with the Language Center’s professors.

02 July 2024

Student Alaa Melhem, who is sponsored by Yarmouk University to study a Master’s degree in English at Bridgewater University, won the Distinguished Graduate Thesis Award for the year 2024 for her thesis titled “Addressing the Writing Challenges Facing Students in the English Department at Yarmouk University: Strategies for Support and Improvement”. Melhem stated that this award is prestigious and very competitive and is given by a committee of exert judges to only one graduate student from all departments at Bridgewater University. She then expressed her great gratitude to Yarmouk University represented by the university’s president, Professor Islam Massad, for giving her the opportunity to study at Bridgewater University. Melhem also appreciated the efforts of the English Department at Yarmouk and its faculty members and students to help her conduct the surveys required to implement the thesis project in the English Language Department.

02 July 2024

In the context of its strategic plan based on developing, modernizing and strengthening international scientific relations, Yarmouk University concluded an academic memorandum of understanding with Wisconsin Medical Faculty in the American city of Milwaukee with the aim of deepening cooperation in the field of medical education. The signing of this memorandum came during the visit made by the university delegation, headed by Professor Islam Massad, President of Yarmouk, the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Dr. Manar Al-Lawama, and the Dean of Al-Hijjawi Faculty for Engineering Technology, Dr. Mwafaq Al-Otoum, to Wisconsin Medical Faculty.

Massad and the accompanying delegation held a series of meetings with the Head of the Faculty, Dr. John Raymond, the Vice President for Academic Affairs - Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Dr. Joseph Kirchner, the Dean of the Faculty of Global Health, Dr. Laura Cassidy, the Head of the Department of Family Medicine, Dr. Joseph Grevel, the Head of the Department of Biomedical Engineering, Dr. Amit Joshi, and the Director Global Health, Dr. Tiffany Fraser. They also met with a group of Jordanian and Arab doctors studying and working at the Faculty, and they were briefed on the educational facilities in the Faculty of Medicine, the Faculty of Pharmacy, the Department of Medical Engineering, and the several departments of the Children Hospital and the Adult Hospital.

During the meetings, Massad delivered an introduction about Yarmouk University, its establishment, scientific and research journey since 1970s, and its aspirations, highlighting its contribution to the development of the Jordanian higher education sector and its cultural, intellectual, and civilizational impact on the Jordanian society. He also pointed to Yarmouk’s faculties and centers that play a pioneering research role in issues related to refugees, women, and sustainable development. Massad then stressed that this visit comes within the context of the University's efforts to open new research and study opportunities for its students and professors, which can enhance the teaching process for students and their acquisition of new knowledge and skills.

For his part, Raymond welcomed Yarmouk delegation, expressing his Faculty’s readiness to cooperate with Yarmouk University in the areas included in the memorandum of understanding, especially student training and research cooperation.

Interestingly, the Wisconsin Medical Faculty was founded in 1893, and it includes the Faculties of medicine, pharmacy, and graduate studies, in addition to a hospital for children and another for adults.

02 July 2024

The Dean of the Faculty of Educational Sciences, Professor Ahmed Al-Shraifin, received a team from the ASAS project including members from both International Research and Exchange Council (IREX) and Queen Rania Academy. At the beginning of the meeting, Al-Shraifin welcomed the guests, indicating the Faculty’s readiness to take the next steps required by the project to implement the royal visions in education and international accreditation while highlighting the experiences of faculty members from various departments in working on accrediting teacher preparation programs. He then stressed the importance of consolidating partnerships with public and private education institutions and schools and the accompanying work on the recruitment mechanism and the advancement of candidates’ level from the time of joining the diploma until graduation. He also explained the importance of measuring the impact of the program among the partners, employers, and graduates who have obtained jobs, as this leads to obtaining corrective measures that can improve the level of work in the program.

02 July 2024

The President of Yarmouk University, Professor Islam Massad, met with a delegation of participants in the Project “Exploration and Protection - Working for the Future of Our Past”, where Yarmouk’s Faculty of Archeology and Anthropology collaborates with the University of Jordan and the Egyptian University of Minya supported by the German Academic Exchange Service DAAD within the program “Enhancement 2023-2025”. The delegation included the President of Minya University, Professor Essam El-Din Farhat, Dr. Hussein Ibrahim from the University of Minya, the head of the project from the German side, Dr. Regina Schulz from the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich, and Dr. Sven Kilau from the University of Hildesheim.

During the meeting, Massad confirmed that the Faculty of Archeology and Anthropology is a center of strength and scientific excellence at Yarmouk University, noting that the Faculty has always demonstrated excellent uniqueness in teaching, administration, and implementing solid scientific field research. He also pointed out the Faculty’s active participation in distinguished scientific and research projects at the international level, which enabled it to achieve remarkable progress in prestigious international academic classifications, stating that Yarmouk is one of the best 201-240 universities around the world in the field of archeology, according to the QS World Classification for the year 2024 and is in the second rank among Arab universities.

In the same context, the members of the delegation praised the distinguished level of researchers and students of the Faculty of Archeology and Anthropology at Yarmouk University, who demonstrated their competence and ability to engage in research work, which enabled those in charge of the project to achieve its goals of developing skills related to the work of restorers and archaeologists in the field of restoration. For his part, the head of the Department of Heritage Resources Conservation and Management at the Faculty of Archeology and Anthropology, the project manager in Jordan, Dr. Wassef Al-Sakhaina, explained that the project includes four 14-day training courses. Moreover, the Dean of the Faculty of Archeology and Anthropology at Yarmouk University, Dr. Mustafa Al-Naddaf, indicated the participation of a group of professors and students in the second training course in Egypt. He also added that the Faculty participated in the first workshop held in October of last year at the University of Hildesheim/Germany with the participation of the University of Jordan, the German universities participating in the project, Minya University, the University of Khartoum in Sudan, and the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.

02 July 2024

A delegation from Yarmouk University headed by the University President, Professor Islam Massad, the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Dr. Manar Al-Lawama, and the Dean of Al-Hijjawi Faculty for Engineering Technology, Dr. Mwafaq Al-Otoum, visited the University of Dartmouth at the United States. Yarmouk Delegation met with officials and professors of the Faculty of Medicine and the University Hospital represented by the Director of the Global Health Program, Dr. Lisa Adams, the Chief of the Pediatrics Department, Dr. Keith Loud, the Chief Resident, Dr. Lucy Carter, the Vice Chair of the Education Department, Dr. Cathy Shopkin, and the Resident Program Director in the Children Department, Dr. Carol Lynn O'Dea. The delegation was briefed on the hospital's various facilities, including the simulation laboratory, and they then met with Dr. Christine Kelly, one of the resident doctors in the Pediatrics Department, who will visit the Faculty of Medicine at Yarmouk University soon.

The meetings with Dartmouth University emphasized mechanisms for activating joint cooperation between both sides with the aim of enabling students from the Faculty of Medicine at Yarmouk University to obtain training opportunities at Dartmouth University Hospital and facilitating research cooperation between the members from both universities, considering that this visit comes after the visit of a delegation from Dartmouth University to Yarmouk last year. During the meetings, Massad pointed to the aspirations of Yarmouk University to develop its academic programs to achieve the goals of its strategic plan, highlighting the University’s strengths, which constitute an attractive element for cooperation with international educational institutions.

Noteworthy here is that Dartmouth University was founded in 1769, and it is a private university within the Ivy League, which is an association that brings together the most renowned eight American universities in the north east coast of the United States of America. The university offers several academic programs in arts, sciences, medicine, and engineering, and the number of its students is about five thousand.

02 July 2024

Professor Islam Massad, the President of Yarmouk University, and Professor Essam El-Din Farhat, the President of Minya University, signed a memorandum of understanding to strengthen scientific and research relations between Yarmouk and Minya University. During the meeting, Massad presented the academic journey of Yarmouk over 47 years and the many stages of development and modernization since its establishment until it has become one of the most prestigious universities at the national, Arab, and regional levels. He then mentioned that Yarmouk has 16 faculties and two deanships, one concerned with students and their affairs and the other for scientific research and postgraduate studies, highlighting that Yarmouk offers 72 programs at the undergraduate level, 70 programs at the graduate level, and 16 doctoral programs. Moreover, Massad indicated that Yarmouk University is keen to strengthen cooperation with various academic institutions around the world and invest in the exchange of experiences and knowledge.

On the other side, Farhat stressed the importance of this visit to Yarmouk University, as it is one of the Jordanian and Arab universities known for its academic and research heritage, praising its pioneering role in serving the Jordanian higher education sector and the whole community. He then mentioned that Minya University was founded in the same year in which Yarmouk University was founded in 1976, noting that the university campus is located north of the city of Minya including 20 faculties in addition to the Higher Nursing Institute.

Thus, the memorandum of understanding stipulates the exchange of faculty members for the purpose of giving lectures or participating in conferences, seminars and scientific discussions, in addition to the exchange of graduate students to attend scientific seminars and training courses while collecting the data related to their research and university dissertations.  Also, the memorandum stipulates the exchange of bulletins, periodicals, scientific journals, books, and summaries of master’s and doctoral theses between both universities.

02 July 2024

The President of Yarmouk University, Professor Islam Massad, as part of the official Jordanian delegation that visited Lebanon, met with the Prime Minister of the Lebanese caretaker government, Najib Mikati, at the Government Palace in Beirut. On this visit, the Jordanian delegation included the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Local Administration Tawfiq Krishan, the Minister of Education, Higher Education and Scientific Research, Professor Azmi Mahafza, the President of the University of Jordan, Professor Nathir Obaidat, the President of Mu'tah University, Professor Salama Naimat, the President of the Jordanian German University, Professor Alaa Al-Halhouli, and the President of Yarmouk University, Professor Islam Massad.

On the sidelines of the visit, the President of the University, Professor Islam Massad, and the President of Beirut Arab University, Dr. Wael Abdel Salam, signed a memorandum of understanding that included scientific and research fields, in the presence of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Local Administration, Tawfiq Krishan, and the Minister of Education, Higher Education, and Scientific Research, Dr. Azmi Mahafza.

 During the meeting, Massad talked about the establishment of Yarmouk University, its history, Faculties, administrative units, and scientific centers, in addition to its future vision based on expanding the development of quality academic programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels. He added that Yarmouk University, in the context of its strategic plan that was implemented in all of its scientific, humanitarian, and health faculties, views raising the level of applied skills among its graduates as an academic priority, as evident in its comprehensive amendment of all study plans and programs. He then pointed out that Beirut Arab University represents part of the academic memory of the Jordanian society, as it has been a destination for hundreds of Jordanian students during the past decades.

 For his part, Abdel Salam appreciated the visit from Yarmouk University to Beirut Arab University, which reflects the depth of academic relations between two of the most prestigious Arab universities. He added that signing the memorandum between the two universities comes as a culmination of the previous visit to Yarmouk University last February, stressing that Yarmouk University represents a distinguished Arab academic and research value due to the nobility and scientific history it represents and its embodiment of the cultural and cognitive values of the Jordanian society.

 The signed memorandum of understanding stipulates cooperation in the field of scientific research, education and culture, the exchange of members of the teaching and administrative staff and students, the organization of scientific conferences and seminars on topics of common interest, and cooperation in individual or joint research programs.

02 July 2024