Al-Azhar University is considered a beacon of centrist, moderate Islam in Egypt. But the university is still vulnerable to criticism and responds to any critiques with an eye on its public image. That may have been the case on May 17, when the dean of Al-Azhar’s Faculty of Dentistry in Assiut, Khalid Siddiq, accepted Abanoub Guirguis Naeem, a Christian student, for a residency training program. Naeem is the first known case of a Christian student enrolling at the university.

Medical school graduates must complete a residency before they are allowed to practice professionally in public or private hospitals and clinics.

Many private universities do not offer students the residencies they need to complete their certification, so students apply at hospitals run by government institutions such as Cairo University, Ain Shams University and Al-Azhar University. Naeem found himself in this situation when he graduated from Nahda University in Beni Suef.

A doctor who graduated from Al-Azhar, asking to be identified only as T. Y., told Al-Monitor, “Not all students who graduate from private universities and want residencies at Al-Azhar are accepted. As the number of applicants outweighs the university hospital’s need and capacity, some students are rejected.”