The Minister of Interior, His Royal Highness Prince Saud bin Naif bin Abdulaziz, ordered that 218 male and female students from the UQU College of Medicine be awarded the Hajj medals in return for their voluntary participation in the Hajj season (1439 A.H.) with the Civil Defense Directorate. They received the medals from the commander of the civil defense forces during Hajj, Major General Dr. Hamoud Sulaiman Al-Faraj, at a celebration organized recently at King Abdulaziz Historical Hall in Al-Abdiyyah.

The General Supervisor of the Hajj and Umrah Methodological and Voluntary Program at the College of Medicine, Dr. Asim Al-Shanbari, said that the program is one of the well-established programs of UQU designed to instill noble values and high morals in the hearts of its students. This is based on its mission of spreading positive thoughts and consolidating the identity and values of the nation in line with aspirations of volunteering specified in the Saudi Vision 2030, which aims to spread the volunteering culture among male and female students, prepare leaders and provide physical training for them in disaster management, and provide a healthcare for the pilgrims.

He added that the College of Medicine at Umm Al-Qura University is the only college, at the level of the local and international universities, to have a course devoted to Hajj and Umrah in medicine and surgery, starts from the second year and continues until the sixth year as well as the internship period. During this course, the students study the basics and rules of medical work, common diseases during the Hajj and Umrah seasons, and ways of dealing with these diseases both orderly and consistently. This is to boost the students’ skills and qualify them in an upward and integrated manner using scientific methods fitting their level of study.