Kathmandu University School of Medical Sciences (KUSMS) is one of the six schools of Kathmandu University running medical, nursing and allied health science program. KUSMS is a collaborative program of Kathmandu University and Dhulikhel Hospital. The main office of KUSMS is on the premises of Dhulikhel Hospital, a Kathmandu University hospital, in Kavrepalanchok District, Nepal. KUSMS was set up in the year 1994.[1] Manipal College of Medical Sciences in Pokhara was the first medical college to be granted affiliation. Since then, KUSMS has granted affiliation to several medical colleges around the country.
KUSMS formally started its own medical training program, the MBBS program, on 7 September 2001 in association with Dhulikhel Hospital. The first class was 43 Nepali students. This day is annually celebrated as KUSMS Day. Although the medical school is still widely known as KUMS, inside and outside the country, its name was changed to Kathmandu University School of Medical Sciences (KUSMS) in 2006, in view of the fact that it not only trains medical undergraduates and postgraduates, but also runs nursing and allied health science programs.
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The school is a non-profit organization with a motto of producing "technically competent and socially responsible" doctors and other medical and nursing professionals. The main focus of the organization is to contribute in improving the overall health status of Nepal.[2]
KUSMS is running the following programs:
The duration of the MBBS program is five and a half years of medical education. This includes one year of clinical internship. The first two years consists of learning basic science courses, where special emphasis is laid on problem-based and community-oriented learning. In the ensuing two and a half years, the medical students are taught and trained in clinical disciples. The students need to complete a year of clinical internship in clinical departments as well as in remote outreach health centers before the final medical diploma is issued by the university.
The fourth batch of MBBS students have graduated from the medical school and the fifth batch is on internship. The 10th batch of students joined the medical school in February 2010. The students of the sixth batch are on final year of the course and waiting for final exams to appear, while the eight batch are near to the basic science leaving university examination. The basic science complex has also been used by students studying Human Biology. There are foreign students doing their internships in Kathmandu University Hospital.