The Tangiers School of Medicine and its Physicians: A Forgotten Initiative of Medical Education Reform in Morocco (1886-1904)

Abstract

In 1886, the Spanish army medical officer Felipe Óvilo Canales (1850-1909) opened up a school of medicine in the Moroccan city of Tangiers. This school was originally sponsored by the Spanish government and intended to provide a number of Spanish Franciscan priests and young upper-class Moroccans a basic education in Western medicine. Later, with support from Sultan Hassan I, it was transformed into a training centre for Muslim military doctors for the Moroccan army. My paper will try to present a brief perspective of the creation and teaching method of the School, as well as of its first graduating class of physicians, in an attempt to rescue a forgotten initiative of medical education reform in Morocco.