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[Dyslexic]

There�s been very little posted on this subject, so it�s this writer�s intention to inform curious reads about PSMCHS-KFMMC.

If you�re considering applying to teach at Prince Sultan Military College of Health Sciences (PSMCHS), located at King Fahd Military Medical Complex (KFMMC) near Dhahran, Eastern Province, consider the following:

1) Getting hired as an English teacher/ instructor with PSMCHS isn�t straightforward. It often takes several months to process the necessary paperwork. As a result, instructors sometimes give up waiting and take other jobs. Those who do wait it out can end up arriving late into the semester. Consequently, most new teachers are not adequately briefed on course curriculum upon arrival.
By-the-way, a normal semester here is 16 weeks.

2) A 3-month probationary period is the norm. During this time instructors relinquish their passports in exchange for a temporary iqama.
Salaries are paid by check for the first three months until a permanent iqama is issued and a proper bank account established.

3) The salary is on the low side --- starting SR10, 000 per month; an increase of SR400 each year after. Starting salary is the same for everybody. It doesn�t matter whether you�ve got a BA or a Ph.D.
It is preferred that instructors have ME experience. As a positive note, the college does hire teachers into their 60s. The oldest recorded member of the teaching staff was 70+.

4) Instructors are required to sign-in and out every day during office hours. Also, instructors are expected to be in or around their offices when they are not in class. Office hours are from 7:30am to 4pm, Sat-Wed. Contact hours: 21+ hrs./ wk. (Used to be 18hrs./ wk.)

5) Unfortunately, there is only one computer in the English Dept connected to the Internet. Most computers in the dept are connected to the college network without access to the Internet and therefore without adequate virus protection. Computer viruses are a constant problem at PSMCHS.

6) Annual holiday time is 49 days, mainly during the summer months. Islamic holidays are not included. Even though there may not be classes during Ramadan or Id, non-Muslim instructors are expected to be at the college. This is also the case during semester breaks. Instructors can apply for unpaid leave during these times, which they often do.

7) Instructors must pay for their own exit/ reentry visa, single and multiple. The college only allows six-months multiple exit/reentry visas (not full year).

8) The college provides single male accommodation only.
Accommodation consists of a bachelor suite with kitchenette and roll-out sofa bed.
Over all, the units are dated and in regular need of repair.
Pest control is needed only once a year on average to quell sudden roach infestations.

9) Each floor (4 floors serviced by 2 elevators) is supposed to have 2 shared washers and dryers. However, due to machine-age and heavy use, most times only one set is working; sometimes it is necessary to use washers/ dryers on another floor. Repairs are slow in coming.

10) English instructors at PSMCHS teach non-clinical and clinical science related material to students ranging in their early to late twenties. Male instructors will at times be assigned to teach female students too (many of whom are veiled even during class).

11) The English Dept shares teaching responsibilities, with the Science Dept which includes midterm and final exam invigilation. There is a growing desire by the college admin to allow more military students into the regular program. Feelings are mixed among the teaching staff as to the relevance of this push.

12) KFMMC is about 18 kilometers away from Dhahran/ Dammam/ Al-Khobar.The complex provides free bus transportation into town two or three times daily.English instructors tend to use call-taxi service especially for grocery shopping. The cost into town (Tamimi Safeway � Cornish) is SR 30 each way (as of Feb 2010), for example. There is a small grocery store at the compound with a limited selection of food-stuff.

13) The complex has a recreation center. There is an indoor swimming pool, weight room and aerobics area. Unfortunately, the bowling alley�s automatic pin-setter broke down twelve years ago (according to one account) and is still waiting to be fixed. The outdoor pool is no longer used due to concerns over modesty. The outdoor tennis court is frequently used.

14) Teaching at KFMMC-PSMCHS isn�t for everyone. However, if you�ve taught at different locations in the ME and / or throughout the world, you�ll know there are worse places. It all depends on one�s tolerance level. Fortunately, at the present time, there is a good group of instructors in the English Dept. This, of course, makes a big difference how one perceives their work environment. Salary, remains the number one negative, however.

I hope this helps dispel some of the ambiguities about PSMCHS at KFMMC.

[Lonewolf]

Interesting post. Got some questions
For a college, the salary seems low. Why is that?
How many teachers do you have presently?
Does PSMCHS use a recruiter or direct hire?

Do the students have good English on average?
Are all the students soldiers?

Thnx
Lonewolf

[Arabian Hawk]

Working at this place for such a low salary is not only an insult to EFL teachers but an insult to the teaching profession in the Magic Kingdom as a whole. Teachers working there into their 70's may have no other prospects thus it is understandable why they stay there until they expire!!

[scot47]

Well is it really so bad ? Better than working for one of those language schools like B*****z, or In*****a.

Better than teaching for minimum wage in the SE of England - or living on welfare.

My main gripe would be the rather miserable vacations on offer.

[kazazt]

[scot47]

2000 SR is more than enough to live on here so saving or remitting 8000 SR monthly is easy. Seems okay to me.

[kazazt]

It is a TINS job.

[scot47]

It is better than sleeping rough on the Embankment !

[Dyslexic]

PSMCHS is administered by the Saudi military.

For things like salary, decisions are approved in Riyadh HQ.
They�re pretty tight fisted with their money especially when it comes to spending more for what is considered necessary. The last pay rise was 10 years ago: 1000 riyal increase.

This issue is often raised at staff meetings, but the college director knows that there is always someone willing to work for this rate of pay.
The admin has been pushing the last two years for more contact hours. It�s no secret that they�d like the English instructors to teach 30-40 contact hrs / wk.

They were able to get the Science instructors to teach a regular 30 hr. week.
This was done by replacing native speakers with Pakistanis and Arabs who are willing to teach for a lower salary and more contact hours (while at the same time complain that the English instructors make too much money). So far, the admin hasn�t been able to successfully replace native speakers in the English Dept.

Presently, there are ten instructors in the dept.
Contracts are one year in duration (single male status). Most teachers complete the full year and then move on. Recruitment is both direct hire, through the college personnel office; and through an agency in London, UK called Network. The Head of the English Dept tried to recruit teachers on behalf of the college, but gave up after repeated difficulties getting reimbursed for the money he shelled out for the ads.

The college offers two-year diploma and four-year degree programs in healthcare sciences.
It has been college practice in past years to have prospective students write a two hour pre-selection test. This year, high school RAM scores were used to determine eligibility. Unfortunately, many of the qualifying students chose other colleges to attend, so the college admin decided to offer positions to those who initially failed the pre-selection. This has been the case for a number of years.
Standards continue to fall. Many more students are showing up lacking necessary English language skills. At the same time, they�re expected to study science, in English, at the college level.

The majority of students at PSMCHS are not soldiers. They have that option upon graduation, but it�s not mandatory. The college and hospital facility are administered by Saudi Armed Forces. Students are paid to attend college courses.

[scot47]

Like other institutions in KSA the intake here clearly shows that there are huge problems in the school system in the country. Schools are quite simply not delivering what is needed.

[Lonewolf]

It�s hard to understand a college hiring non-natives to teach science courses in English, but they do. I taught at an institute of higher learning in the kingdom a few years ago. We had Egyptian, Palestinian and Pakistani teachers on staff. The Pakistanis were difficult to understand because of the cadence of their speech. The Egyptians and Palestinians were often overheard lecturing in Arabic even though college policy demanded that English be used in all class lectures. Occasionally, my students would find time to joke about it all.

[Dyslexic]

It�s very much the same at PSMCHS. No doubt this practice is widespread throughout the KSA.
No disrespect towards the science teachers intended; I�m sure they�re very knowledgeable in their academic discipline. Nonetheless, there should be no allowances made for poor diction and slothful contrariety. The college is responsible to test non-native speaker applicants for satisfactory English proficiency before they are employed. Not as an afterthought.

[veiledsentiments]

[kazazt]

[scot47]

What you report is evidence - as if any were needed - of the rapid development of a pidginised form of English. The large number of non-native speakers of Arabic has also contributed in the region to a pidginised form of Arabic common amongst sub-continental and European "gastarbeiter".