Antoine Clot (Clot Bey) was appointed to the Egyptian government just one year after his arrival in Egypt in 1842. During that time, Muhammad Ali Pasha was convinced of the importance of medical services after The Marra Campaign, during which more soldiers died from injuries and related diseases than in battle.
Clot Bey persuaded Muhammad Ali Pasha that establishing a medical school to train future doctors was more crucial than inviting foreign physicians to treat sick or wounded soldiers. Clot Bey also played a key role in convincing Muhammad Ali Pasha to establish a medical school in the area of "Abu Za'bal" in 1827.
Clot Bey spent most of his life in Egypt. After being promoted by Muhammad Ali Pasha to Director of the Army’s Medical Department, he became the Chief Military Physician. Clot Bey was appointed Director of the Medical School, which was the first modern medical school in the Middle East. Later, a Faculty of Pharmacy and an Obstetrics School were affiliated with it, bringing the total hospital capacity to 720 beds. When Egypt was struck by the plague in 1830, Clot Bey directed all efforts to combat it. Meanwhile, he was responsible for managing the hospitals under his supervision. In recognition of his major contributions to medicine in Egypt, Muhammad Ali Pasha granted him the title of "Bey". Clot Bey also enriched the Arab medical library with many valuable medical books.
Among the most notable early graduates of this school were "Muhammad Ali Pasha Al-Baqli", who was considered as the "Father of Military Medicine and Public Health" in the Egyptian 