The Hubert Kairuki Memorial University is located in Dar es Salaam, the old capital of Tanzania and has the historical distinction of being the first ever private university to be launched in the country. This was in the year 1997 and it was fully accredited in the year 2000.

The Hubert Kairuki Memorial University or HKMU as it is otherwise known is a specialist institution with two faculties, namely Medicine and Nursing. It started life as The Mikocheni International University of Health Sciences bearing the name of its location (Mikocheni) in Dar es Salaam. It was re-named after the renowned doctor and academic who was also its founder Professor Hubert Mwombeki Kairuki after his death from metastatic stomach cancer in February 1999, two years after its establishment.

The HKMU campus is in Regent Estate in Mikocheni, which is about seven kilometres (4 miles) from the city centre. A sister institution is the Mission Mikocheni Hospital, one of the largest in the country which acts as the teaching Hospital. It is located at the same premises.

Most students are Tanzanian nationals but the university has successfully recruited students from several other countries in Africa and Asia.

Educational Programmes at HKMU

The Hubert Kairuki Memorial University (HKMU) offers certificate, diploma and degree programmes in a variety of health science subjects. These are:

Undergraduate Degree Programmes

v Medicine

v B.Sc in Nursing

Post Graduate Diploma Programmes

v Obstetrics and gynaecology

v Paediatrics

Master of medicine (M.Med) Postgraduate programmes

v Internal medicine

v General Surgery

v Obstetrics and Gynaecology

v Paediatrics

Nursing diploma Programmes

v Diploma in nursing/Midwifery

v Diploma in Nursing: Psychiatry

Certificate Programmes

v Certificate in Holistic Therapeutic Counselling

v Pre- Medicine Programme

Education and research activities at HKMU

The HKMU is relatively new institution that appears to have made a deliberate decision to be progressive and at the cutting edge of medical education advances. It has placed itself strategically to tackle the challenges of the 21st century. It has also forged collaborative ties with leading universities including Harvard, Yale and Southern Connecticut State University in the United States in various areas of research.

The Chancellor of the HKMU is Dr Salim Ahmed Salim, a retired Tanzanian diplomat and statesman, former prime Minister of Tanzania and former Secretary General of the Organisation of African Unity. The Vice-Chancellor is Professor Keto Mshigeni

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The Hubert Kairuki Memorial University (HKMU)

The Hubert Kairuki Memorial University in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Professor Hubert Kairuki, a Tanzanian Obstetrician and gynaecologist, who founded the HKMU. He died two years after its inauguration. He is celebrated as a leading visionary and academic.