Doctor Shortage in Remote Areas: Bogor Islamic University Prepares Pathway for Pesantren Students into the Medical World
The shortage of medical personnel in various parts of Indonesia, particularly in remote areas, has spurred an education initiative based on pesantren that targets santri as future medical workers.
Universitas Islam Bogor (UIB), inaugurated on Saturday (11/4/2026), carries this mission with long-term plans to establish a Faculty of Medicine to produce doctors from the santri community.
UIB Rector, KH Syamsul Rizal, stated that this idea originated from the concerns of the founder of Pesantren Modern Ummul Quro Al Islami, KH Helmi Abdul Mubin, who directly witnessed the imbalance in medical access in remote regions.
“He once visited an island where there were no doctors from the santri background. From there, the idea emerged that santri should also be able to become doctors and be distributed to the outskirts,” Syamsul said during the inauguration.
According to him, many santri possess sufficient academic capacity to pursue medical education but are hindered by financial limitations and access to higher education.
Therefore, UIB targets opening the Faculty of Medicine within the next five to ten years, along with building an educational hospital as a supporting ecosystem.
As an initial step, UIB has opened the Health Administration Study Programme and is developing clinic facilities that will serve as the embryo for strengthening the health sector on campus.
This step is part of the transformation of the institution that began as Pesantren Modern Ummul Quro Al Islami, which has now developed into a university with a total of study programmes covering Islamic and general fields based on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics).
Pesantren leader, KH Saiful Falah, emphasised that this approach not only addresses the need for medical personnel but also builds an education model that integrates religious knowledge and science. “Santri must be present in all sectors, including health. Therefore, the balance between revelation and reason is important,” he said.
Internal campus data shows high public interest in pesantren-based education integrated with general sciences. Previously, when it was still an institute, the number of students had approached 2,000.
Bogor Deputy Regent, Ade Ruhandi, assessed that the presence of UIB can strengthen human resource investment in the region, while also opening wider access to higher education for the people of West Bogor. “We need more local children who can continue to higher education, including in strategic sectors like health,” he said.