University of Medical Sciences (IUMS) has been broken up and divided between the two other medical schools in Tehran.
The announcement said the purpose was to eliminate overhead and duplication.
But the order has prompted vocal opposition from some in the medical profession. And the Iranian Labor News Agency said students at the dissolved university promptly began a protest sit-in. Eighteen Majlis deputies also signed a letter calling a reversal of the action.
The order, announced Tuesday, said that as of three days earlier, IUMS was dissolved. All the 17 hospitals and other medical care facilities of IUMS were shifted to the authority of the Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences (SBUMS). All the faculty and educational and research parts of IUMS have been shifted to the Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS).
It wasn’t clear why the action was being taken now, just six weeks into the academic year. In most countries, such mergers are left for a time between teaching years. Now faculty members will have to learn and apply new administrative procedures right in the middle of a school term.
The announcement was made by Health Minister Marzieh Vahidi-Dastjerdi, who chaired the IUMS Board of Trustees. But she said she was acting on the orders of the vice president for management.
Dastjerdi said the purpose of the change was to cut down on overhead and promote consistency in the delivery of health services.
IUMS was founded in 1974 and at its dissolution had 6,000 students and 730 faculty members.