jordan university of science and technology jordan university of science and technology the jordan university of science and technology (arabic: جامعة العلوم والتكنولوجيا الأردنية jami'at al-ulum wa al-tiknolojia al-urdunia), often abbreviated just, is a state-supported university located on the outskirts of irbid, at ar ramtha in northern jordan. the university comprises twelve faculties that offer a spectrum of undergraduate and higher study programs, in addition to king abdullah university hospital which is a tertiary teaching hospital affiliated with just and located within its campus. jordan university of science and technologyجَامِعَةُ العلوم والتكنولوجيا الأردنيةjordan university of science and technology logotypepublicestablished1986budget$150 million (jod 102 million) (2019)presidentprof. khalid el-salemacademic staff1037students30,042 (2023)undergraduates28,424 (2023)postgraduates1,618 (2023)locational ramtha, irbid, jordan campusurban1.41 square kilometres (350 acres)colorsviolet and blue nicknamejust / technoaffiliationsiau, fuiw unimed, aaru icarda, who cida, icgeb ictp, daadwebsitewww.just.edu.jo history the university reservoir as seen with the engineering buildings complex in the background. having its roots at yarmouk university in irbid, a royal decree was issued in 1986 to establish just, which emerged as an independent university on september 1, 1986. just detached five faculties from yarmouk university to form its academic nucleus. these faculties were: faculty of medicine, faculty of dentistry, faculty of pharmacy, faculty of nursing and faculty of engineering. consecutively added to these faculties were the faculty of science and arts, faculty of medical applied sciences, faculty of veterinary medicine, faculty of computer and information technology, and the faculty of agriculture. started with 110 faculty members, just in 2018 hosted 985 academic faculty members, of which 249 were full professors. a total of 2,300 students enrolled in 1986, but as of the academic year 2017/2018, 22634 undergraduate and 2213 postgraduate students were enrolled at the university, representing 51 nationalities. the university granted 5177 bachelor and master degrees in the academic year 2017/2018, with a total of over 77,000 graduates since establishment. university presidents prof. kamel ajlouni (1986–1995) prof. saad hijazi (1995–2003) prof. wajih owais (2003–2010) prof. abdullah al-malkawi (2010–2014) prof. mahmoud alsheyab (2015–2016) prof. omar al-jarrah (2016–2018) prof. saeb khresat (2018– 2021) prof. khalid el-salem (2021-date) campus the university campus is located in ar ramtha, 70 km north of amman, the capital, and 20 km east of irbid. it covers an area of approximately 11,000 dunums (11 km2). the main campus is surrounded by a green cover of 5,000 dunums. in addition to academic buildings and the just library, the campus includes the university farm, 12 auditoriums, a concert hall, fine arts galleries and museums, as well as athletic facilities including a 7000-seat soccer stadium, a multipurpose indoor arena, a swimming pool, a squash court, and a gym. the university reservoir at the engineering faculties complex. medical halls of just as seen with kauh.the university campus is divided into two sections. the medical faculties complex is located at the northern part of the university and houses the faculties of dentistry, medicine, nursing, applied medical sciences, pharmacy and science and arts. the engineering faculties complex is located at the southern part of the university and includes the faculties of agriculture, computer and information technology, engineering, architecture and design and veterinary medicine. buses shuttle students from one complex to the other. there are two libraries in just, one in the engineering faculties complex and the other is in the medical faculties complex. the two-floor library at the medical faculties complex contains 115,000 books, and 45,000 volumes of back issues of periodicals, which makes it the main library at the university. at the present time, a third library is being constructed in the area between the engineering faculties complex and the medical faculties complex which is larger in size than both existing libraries. there are three restaurants for students; one in each main campus, and one located near the soccer stadium. every department has a computer laboratory for the students to use. there are also two open labs one in each campus and six additional labs, which are available for the graduate and undergraduate computer science students and students who are taking related courses at the ph building located at the medicine faculties building. the campus is covered by a wireless internet connection (wlan). king abdullah university hospital named after the first king of modern jordan, abdullah i bin al-hussein, the king abdullah university hospital (kauh) is the largest hospital in northern jordan, serving approximately one million inhabitants of the irbid, ajloun, jerash, and mafraq governorates. it is also the teaching hospital affiliated with jordan university of science and technology, located within the campus adjacent to the university's medical faculties complex. the hospital is staffed with full-time physicians and surgeons who are faculty members of the just faculty of medicine, in addition to many others from the ministry of health, and the royal medical services (rms). the overall area of various hospital buildings is 95583m², in addition to a double story car park of 9000m² area. the hospital has a bed capacity of 683 which can be increased to 800 beds in an emergency situation. structurally, the hospital is composed of a 15-storey high-rise building, in which all hospital beds are located, and a 3-story low-rise buildings in which patient clinics, diagnostic and other services are located. the hospital is connected to various health science faculties via the ground floor of the low-rise building. the hospital includes the departments of general surgery, special surgery, emergency department, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, internal medicine and dermatology, cardiac center, diagnostic x-ray, pathology and laboratory, endoscopy unit, physical therapy and rehabilitation, physiology function test, neuroscience, nursing and information system department. the red hall in king abdullah university hospital, the teaching hospital of just. – photo by aymx academics jordan university of science and technology is home to twelve faculties. the medium of teaching at the university; lectures, exams, and tuition, are primarily in english language, with arabic being used mainly to facilitate student understanding as the greater majority of students are of arab background. medical faculties complex the main entrance to the just campus. a group of building in the northern part of the university comprising the faculties of medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, nursing, applied medical sciences, and science and arts. medicine the just faculty of medicine, the second medical school in jordan, was established in yarmouk university at the northern city of irbid in 1984; the faculty then branched out into jordan university of science and technology in 1986. the faculty is closely associated with king abdullah university hospital, the teaching hospital where postgraduate students undergo their residencies. as the faculty's main teaching hospital, kauh provide students with the opportunity to attend lectures, tutorials, clinics, ward rounds, and surgeries. medical students graduating from just are widely renowned for their achievements in the united states medical licensing examination (usmle), gaining postgraduate positions in well-known global institutions. furthermore, the faculty of medicine has been an active participant in medical research and has hosted numerous international events and conferences, with focus on subjects in relation to myocardial protection and research, pediatrics, anesthesia, and internal medicine. as of september 2011, the faculty will be hosting the fellow of the royal college of pathologists (frc path) part 1 written exams in all pathology specialties, which will enable jordanian and arab pathologists to sit the exam outside the uk. nature of the medical program the faculty of medicine awards the bachelor of medicine and surgery (mbbs) after completion of six years comprising three years of medical sciences and three clinical years. students are admitted to medicine based solely on their grade point average in their high school national general exam (tawjihi); there are neither entrance interviews nor psychometric exams. the cutoff average used for admissions into medicine is the highest among all the other disciplines offered by universities. for example, the cutoff average used over the past five years has been: 94.9 (2005), 96.3 (2006), 97 (2007), 96.8 (2008), and 97.7 (2009). although in the minority, the faculty of medicine accepts students from israel, palestine, syria, arab states of the persian gulf, malaysia, and other countries. tuition is significantly higher for the foreign students. initially, the faculty at just accepted 50 students into the program, but that number has grown to more than 200 in recent years. during the first year and a half of their program, students are taught basic science in a traditional format. in an integrated module fashion, the next year and half is devoted to studying nine body systems: cardiovascular, respiratory, hematopoietic, digestive, endocrine, musculoskeletal, neuroscience 1 and 2, and reproductive and urinary. towards the end of the third year students begin direct contact with patients in hospital settings. the last three years are spent in supervised inpatient and outpatient settings to develop their diagnostic and treatment competencies; the clinical years begin fully at the beginning of year 4 where students rotate through various areas of general clinical medicine. year 5 continues this pattern focusing more on specialized areas of medicine and surgery. in total, students are required to complete 257 hours of classes divided among compulsory and elective courses. after completion of their 6th year, students are required to complete internship (imtiaz), which is a one-year term in general practice for which they are not compensated for. evaluations are based primarily on written exams (marks are based on two midterms and one end of term exam) and percentage grades appear on transcripts. practical exams are solely based on an objective structured clinical examination (osce) type of standardized exams. in the final year, the school of medicine invites external examiners (from the united states, britain, among others) to participate in student evaluations and to benefit from the experience of others. residency students looking to specialize can apply for residency programs after completion of imtiaz (internship). most residency programs are four years in length, but notable exceptions include neurosurgery (6 years), general surgery (5 years), orthopedic surgery (5 years), and urology (5 years). residency programs are divided into two broad groups: major and minor specialties. major programs include internal medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, while the rest are considered minor. this division reflects the number of available seats and thus the competitiveness of each specialty. faculty of medicine main article: medical education in jordan dentistry the faculty of dentistry at jordan university of science and technology was founded by a royal decree on 16 september 1983 and the first group of students was admitted in the academic year 1984/1985. the faculty offers facilities for undergraduate and postgraduate training and is developing programs for all professionals in dentistry who wish to continue their education and obtain further qualifications. faculty of dentistry pharmacy the faculty of pharmacy, the first in jordan, was established as a department of the faculty of medical sciences at yarmouk university by a royal decree in 1979. the rapid growth and development of the department led to the transformation of the department into an independent faculty on september 19, 1983. three years later -in september 1986– the faculty of pharmacy became affiliated with just. faculty of pharmacy nursing the faculty of nursing was established in 1983 with only 2 faculty members and 23 students. it currently consists of 23 phd, and 22 masters prepared faculty members (adult, maternal child, community & midwifery) placed in the four departments of the faculty; this body is supported by 27 msn or bsn qualified clinical trainers. faculty of nursing applied medical sciences the faculty of applied medical sciences was established in 2000, and was housed in several makeshift facilities. it was created to educate allied health professionals to fill crucial shortages in the health care needs of the people in jordan. the faculty has since become a dynamic and vital member of the university health team. the faculty also has a number of sponsored students who are pursuing graduate studies leading to m.sc. and ph.d. degrees in various majors at well-known universities in the us, uk, and australia. upon graduation, they will join the faculty. faculty of applied medical sciences science and arts the faculty of science and arts was established by a decree from the council of higher education on january 26, 1987. it commenced its duties as of september 1, 1987. the faculty, one of the oldest and largest at the university, holds seven departments and a program of forensic science, offers both bachelor's and master's degrees and gives students the chance