Damascus School of Medicine

Traditional Ottoman Medicine has entered into process of alteration and transformation in consequence of developments occurred in the field of medicine in Europe in 19 th century. Medical institutions whose first examples appeared during the period of Selim III, gained its essential identity at the period of Mahmud II. Mahmud II who is determined to maintain reformation activities first started at the army and navy, formed a new army named Asakir-i Mansure-i Muhammediye soon after he abolished the Guild of Janissaries. In order to meet the medical needs of the army, Tıphane-i Amire was founded as a result of the reports submitted by Chief Doctor Mustafa Behçet Efendi. By the westernization of this institution Mekteb-i Tıbbiye-i Adliye-i Şahane provided training in French was founded. After a while Mekteb-i Tıbbiye-i Mülkiye was founded and started to provide training in Turkish. During the period of Sultan Abdülhamid II in which education activities gained momentum, it was noticed that those two schools were inefficient to meet the requirements. Iın consideration of evaluations within this scope, the impact of medical schools founded by American and French missionaries on locals had been taken into consideration and Damascus, capital of Syria was chosen as the location of new medical school.