The Westminster Medical College and Hospital in Urmia, Iran, 1879-1915.

BACKGROUND: The American Presbyterian Missionary in Iran accomplished medical activities in Urmia. Doctor Joseph Plumb Cochran established the first modern medical college (the Westminster College) in 1879 and built a modern hospital of that time (the Westminster Hospital). The medical college and hospital trained 34 native physicians that practiced in the northwest of Iran and its neighboring regions. Although the main aim of American Presbyterian Missionary was theological and evangelistic, their devoted activities improved health and welfare in the northwestern part of Iran and its neighboring countries.