Applied health sciences education in Egypt has grown from a small number of university initiatives into a field offered across public, private and national—or ahliya—universities. Alongside this expansion, a separate pathway has emerged within technological universities. Together, these developments place a clear responsibility on institutions: before enrolling, students should understand the qualification they will receive, the work it prepares them to undertake, the licensing requirements, and how their credentials may be assessed in Egypt and abroad.
The history of these faculties includes successive changes to their names, academic regulations, licensing arrangements and graduates’ employment status. Understanding the field requires examining this development as a whole, recognising both the progress already made and the procedures that remain necessary. Clear, consistent information for every programme and graduating cohort should be a basic measure of responsible university expansion.
From Private Universities to Public Higher Education
One of the field’s early beginnings can be traced to October 6 University, which records the establishment of its faculty under its former name in 1996. The university distinguishes between its establishment and the commencement of teaching: classes began in the 1998/1999 academic year with nineteen students enrolled in the medical laboratory programme. The field therefore has a history that substantially predates the current wave of expansion.
The model subsequently entered public higher education. Beni-Suef University established its Faculty of Applied Health Sciences in 2014 under Prime Ministerial Decree No. 1437, followed by Menoufia University in 2015 under Decree No. 1399. As the field expanded beyond private universities, questions concerning qualifications, occupational titles and graduates’ roles within healthcare teams became increasingly prominent.
In July 2016, Beni-Suef University announced a change of name to Applied Medical Sciences, citing approval by its University Council and a recommendation from the Bureau of the Supreme Council of Universities to complete the necessary legislative procedures. Admissions subsequently faced disruption. Reporting published in July 2018 documented the removal of these faculties from the public university admissions process and the suspension of admissions to their specialisations at private universities, amid a review of their status and graduates’ occupational titles.
Name Changes Extended Beyond Two Faculties
On 19 January 2020, Prime Ministerial Decree No. 141 renamed the faculties at Menoufia and Beni-Suef universities as Faculties of Applied Health Sciences Technology. It also established provisions for bachelor’s degrees, postgraduate diplomas, master’s degrees and PhDs, while safeguarding the established legal status of previously enrolled students. Its provisions applied to new entrants from the 2020/2021 academic year.
Separate presidential decrees introduced corresponding changes at private universities, including Decree No. 440 of 2020 concerning October 6 University and Decree No. 443 concerning Delta University for Science and Technology. Understanding the spread of the name therefore requires examining developments across public, private and national universities, rather than reducing the issue to a single decision affecting two institutions.
Further developments followed in 2026. On 29 April, New Ismailia National University published an announcement reporting the Supreme Council of Universities’ approval of a change to the name Applied Health Sciences, while retaining the graduate occupational title of Applied Health Sciences Technology Specialist. In August of the same year, Benha National University announced the commencement of studies using the Applied Health Sciences Technology name. These developments underline the importance of publishing implementing decisions and identifying their scope and effective dates, so that the position of each university and student cohort is clear.
Expansion Across Private and National Universities
By October 2026, faculties and academic fields in applied health sciences were represented at no fewer than twenty-two universities: two public, eleven private and nine national universities. They include Beni-Suef and Menoufia universities; private institutions such as October 6 University, Misr University for Science and Technology, Pharos, Delta, Horus and Lotus; and national universities including Galala, New Mansoura, New Ismailia, East Port Said, Sohag, Helwan and Benha.
This expansion reflects growing investment in health sciences education. It also increases the responsibility of universities and regulators to explain graduates’ professional pathways. As faculties, programmes and enrolments grow, disclosure of qualifications, occupational titles, licensing requirements and opportunities for further study and employment becomes an essential responsibility—and a student’s right before admission.
Similar Names Require Clear Distinctions
Law No. 72 of 2019 established Egypt’s technological university framework, providing for professional bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in technology. In 2022, Prime Ministerial Decree No. 2929 established health sciences technology faculties within technological universities, including Borg El Arab, October 6 and New Assiut. The presence of the word “technology” in the name of a faculty at a private or national university does not, by itself, establish that it belongs to this separate legal pathway.
A technological university graduate who completes the requirements for a bachelor’s degree holds a university qualification. Equally, two qualifications carrying the bachelor’s designation do not necessarily have identical curricula or confer identical rights to practise. A fair comparison should examine academic regulations, course content, training, competencies and the relevant professional decisions. Reducing the discussion to a contest between the labels “technician” and “specialist” leaves the practical question unanswered: what has the graduate been trained to do, and what are they legally authorised to undertake?
Licensing and Employment Status Are Separate Issues
The field has seen regulatory progress that should be acknowledged. In June 2023, the Ministry of Health announced approval for new licensing registers for graduates of health sciences technology programmes for whom registers had not previously been established, using the designation approved by the Cabinet in July 2019. This was an important development in the licensing pathway. Universities nevertheless need to explain which register applies to each specialisation and qualification, together with its requirements.
On 7 July 2025, the Ministry of Higher Education announced the Supreme Council for Technological Education’s approval of the occupational title Applied Health Sciences Technology Specialist for graduates of the relevant faculties. Subsequently, Law No. 173 of 2025, issued in September, added applied health sciences technology specialists to the categories covered by the legislation governing medical personnel, within its specified institutional and employment scope.
These measures serve different purposes: defining an occupational title, establishing employment and financial entitlements, and licensing the practice of a healthcare specialisation. The July decision on occupational titles should therefore be distinguished from the subsequent legislative amendment to the medical personnel employment framework. Students need a clear statement of what applies to their programme and graduating cohort, including their scope of practice and any supervision requirements.
Unions and the Limits of Their Authority
The General Union for Health Sciences operates as a labour union under the Trade Union Organizations Law No. 213 of 2017, as amended. Its role includes representing members and defending their interests. The Technologists’ Syndicate, by contrast, was established as a professional syndicate under Law No. 13 of 2024. Their different legal structures determine their powers. Union membership and a professional practice licence are also separate credentials serving different purposes.
A labour union may assess membership applications against statutory requirements and its occupational classification, with rejected applicants able to challenge decisions before the Labour Court. It is therefore inappropriate to assume that every graduate of a particular university pathway must be admitted or excluded without examining the applicable qualifications, employment circumstances and rules. The Health Sciences Union’s 2023 announcement rejecting the registration of technological university graduates must likewise be considered in its historical context and alongside subsequent official decisions.
These distinctions demonstrate the need for accessible, consolidated information. When answers are scattered across universities, unions and government bodies, prospective students are effectively required to assemble a legal dossier to understand their educational choice. Even where rules exist, difficulty finding them and understanding their relationship remains a disclosure problem that institutions should address.
International Recognition Goes Beyond a Faculty’s Name
Outside Egypt, recognition of a university, assessment of a qualification and registration to practise a healthcare profession are distinct processes. Germany’s official recognition portal, for example, identifies medical laboratory technology as a regulated profession. Practising requires professional recognition and fulfilment of the relevant conditions, including an assessment of the content and duration of training and professional experience. Substantial differences may require compensatory measures. The word “technology” alone cannot determine whether an Egyptian qualification will be accepted or rejected.
In the United Kingdom, the Health and Care Professions Council requests institution-certified information on theoretical and practical course content, learning outcomes, study and training hours, and assessment methods. In Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties considers qualifications, academic transcripts, training and internship documentation where applicable, and evidence of professional licensing and experience according to the applicant’s circumstances.
Any claim about international recognition should therefore identify a particular authority, profession and set of published requirements. A blanket assertion that these qualifications are rejected abroad requires evidence that differences in naming alone cannot provide. Recognition of a university within Egypt likewise does not automatically guarantee professional registration elsewhere. Graduates need precise qualification descriptions and training records that receiving authorities can assess.
Clarity Should Precede Admission
Before opening admissions, every university should publish the qualification’s Arabic and English titles, its governing regulations, training requirements, licensing authority and conditions, scope of practice, relevant membership arrangements and postgraduate pathways. Where a procedure remains under development, students should be told its status and which authority is responsible before they commit to enrolling.
Expansion also requires published assessments of whether hospitals, laboratories and training placements can accommodate admitted students, together with verifiable information on graduates’ subsequent pathways. Students already enrolled deserve clear arrangements for addressing any demonstrated gaps in training or regulation, including responsibility for implementation and costs, while protecting established legal rights under the relevant decisions.
Applied health sciences education can strengthen healthcare delivery and prepare specialists whose skills society needs. Its success should be measured by graduates’ ability to present clearly documented qualifications to employers and licensing authorities, and to perform the roles for which they have been trained safely and competently. As the network of faculties grows, so does the responsibility of institutions to provide that clarity to students and their families.