Overview of medical schools in the Eastern Mediterranean Region of the World Health Organization.

The 22 countries of the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) exhibit considerable diversity, both culturally and economically. This paper collated published data on the status of medical schools in the Region to provide information to assist in future planning. Information about medical schools was obtained from the International Medical Education Directory, the Avicenna Directory, the WHO/EMR Health Professions Education Directory and the Institute for International Medical Education's Database of Medical Schools. The registered number of medical schools in the Region varied according to the different directories. There were variations in the language used for instruction (some used more than one language) and the density of medical schools per million population. The density and number of medical schools in the country were not related to the number of working physicians which ranged from 2.1 per 10 000 population in Afghanistan to 28.3 in Egypt. An updated directory of medical schools in the Region is much needed.