Hazem Ben-Gacem, AB ’92

Tunisia’s four medical schools are now offering HMX online courses to select groups of their students, helping to equip these future physicians with the skills needed to provide outstanding care in North Africa’s smallest country.

The four schools, situated in the major cities of Tunis, Sfax, Sousse, and Monastir, have made available all five of Harvard Medical School’s HMX Fundamentals courses—biochemistry, genetics, immunology, pharmacology, and physiology. The students will acquire more in-depth knowledge of the basic sciences, which they can then apply to clinical practice.

“I am thrilled for this partnership between Harvard Medical School and the medical schools of my home country,” says Hazem Ben-Gacem, AB ’92, who is funding the program with a $1 million gift. “I hope this initiative will help open a small door for the next generation of Tunisian physicians to be the best that they can be and contribute to enhancing health care in Tunisia.”

In October 2019, Ben-Gacem provided funding for the deans of the Tunisian medical schools to attend HMS’s inaugural IMPACT Symposium— a meeting to explore trends, developments, and current best practices in medical school education. The symposium created connections and generated conversations that led to the opportunity to expand the reach of HMX’s unique online education.

“We are very grateful to Mr. Ben-Gacem for his generous commitment to informing and inspiring medical students who will make a lasting impact on patient care in Tunisia,” says David Roberts, MD ’95, dean for external education at HMS and the Steven P. Simcox, Patrick A. Clifford, and James H. Higby Associate Professor of Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

Ben-Gacem, co-chief executive officer of Investcorp, has funded other key University initiatives, including the opening of the Tunisia Office of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard University

“Implementing HMX online courses will offer an excellent opportunity to Tunisia’s medical students,” says Mohamed Jouini, dean of the Faculty of Medicine of Tunis at Tunis El Manar University. “We hope this first initiative will establish a fruitful and long-lasting relationship between the Faculty of Medicine of Tunis and Harvard Medical School. For our school, this project comes as a great addition to a wider strategy of international cooperation. We are putting every effort into making this experience a success, and we hope to see the opportunity extended to a larger number of students in the future,” he says.

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