The Department of Medicine of Dār al-Funūn The Birthplace of Iran’s Modern Medicine

International Journal of Medical Science

© 2021 by SSRG - IJMS Journal

Volume 8 Issue 7

Year of Publication : 2021

Authors : Mahmoud Abbasi, Nāsir pūyān

10.14445/23939117/IJMS-V8I7P103

How to Cite?

Mahmoud Abbasi, Nāsir pūyān, "The Department of Medicine of Dār al-Funūn The Birthplace of Iran’s Modern Medicine," SSRG International Journal of Medical Science, vol. 8,  no. 7, pp. 20-30, 2021. Crossref, https://doi.org/10.14445/23939117/IJMS-V8I7P103

Abstract:

Iran, which can be studied as an ancient civilization, had no university until 1851AD (1268AH). Nāsir al-Dı̄n Shāh Qājār, the 4th king of Iran, made several trips to Europe and introduced services and amenities that he had observed. Most of his modernizing reforms happened during the chancellorship of Amı̄r Kabı̄r.
In 1851AD (1268AH), Amı̄r Kabı̄r founded the first Iranian School for higher education, called Dār al-Funūn (Polytechnic college), where many intellectuals and physicians of Iran received their education. Dār al-Funūn had a Department of Medicine where the instruction was given in French by teachers and instructors from Austria and Italy. A number of European texts were translated into Persian. (Loudon, P.53.) Among the subjects taught at Dār al-Funūn were medicine, surgery, pharmacology, natural sciences, mathematics, geology, and natural history. The number of students in medicine and pharmacology was 27; in medicine: 20 students, and in pharmacology, 7 students.
Despite the problems of teaching, within a few years, Dr. Polak trained a number of students who were admitted to Medical Schools in Paris and carried out important re-searches (Polak, 1, PP. 310-311; Elgood, P.502). Some of them returned to Tehran to teach at the Department of Medicine of Dār al-Funūn, establishing a tradition in which the best students remained attached to the institu-tion. In 1338AH/1919AD, the Department of Medicine became the School of Medicine (Madrasa-ye Ṭibb) which came to be the University of Tehran’s first Faculty of Med-icine in 1313SH/1934AD. Until 1319SH/1939AD, the Fac-ulty of Medicine confronted many problems and difficulties. Therefore, at the request of Iranian officials, the government of France introduced Charles Oberling, French physician, pathologist, oncologist, and professor at Collège de France. He was appointed as the dean of the Faculty of Medicine of Tehran. Oberling, with the cooperation of his Iranian colleagues and officials, designed an educational curriculum based on the French medical faculties and modern programs. Today, more than 100 universities of medical sciences and other the heritage of Dār al-Funūn, including its department of medicine.
 

Keywords:

Nāsir al-Dīn Shāh, Amīr Kabīr, the Department of Medicine, School of Medicine (Madrase-ye Ṭibb), the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Tehran

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