Medical College Approved for Chuuk
Press Release #0710-22 
Palikir, Pohnpei – FSM Information Services
July 16, 2010

Palikir, Pohnpei (NDOE): July 16, 2010 - On July 10, 2010, Education Secretary Casiano Shoniber endorsed the charter document for the creation of “The New Tokyo Medical College” (the “Medical College”) in the FSM.  The Medical College is set to be headquartered on Weno, Chuuk State, with extensions in all four FSM States.  The first charter class will start on January 24, 2011, at the Pohnpei extension; negotiations regarding the Pohnpei campus location are currently under way. 

Last March 2010, Dr. Christian Hong of Hanseo University of South Korea worked with the National Department of Education (NDOE) staff, to complete an application securing a charter from the FSM Government, granting him the authority to establish a non-public school in the FSM.  Hong also received the blessings of the new Director of Education, Ms. Gardenia Aisek, and Chuuk Governor Wesley Simina, to establish the Medical College’s headquarters on Weno.

Tuition-waiver scholarships will be awarded to 25 students of the first class of 2011, 10 slots for Pohnpei students, and then 5 slots for each Yap, Chuuk and Kosrae.  The Medical College is targeting an initial enrollment of approximately 45 students; students from Guam, CNMI and other neighboring Pacific Island States will be considered on the basis of space availability.  The tuition for FSM Nationals will be $3,500 per school year, and $7,000 for non-FSM Nationals.

The Medical College will principally offer the degree of “Doctor in Medicine;” however, Hong emphasized that in the near future, the Medical College plans to offer MBAs, and BAs in Japanese Studies, as well as in Marine Biology.  The teachers, for the most part, will be US citizens.

A dinner reception was held for Hong at the China Star restaurant on July 10, 2010, hosted by Shoniber, to celebrate the approval of the Medical College’s charter documents. 

For more information, please contact the FSM Public Information Office by e-mail at fsmpio@mail.fm or at 320-2548