LIBERTY — A little-known Valley medical school is doing its part to help medical students displaced by the war in Ukraine.

John Talstein, president of the board of Avalon University School of Medicine, calls the school “a hidden gem.” The campus itself is more than 2,000 miles from the Mahoning Valley, situated along a beach on the Caribbean island of Curacao, just north of Venezuela, but the school’s headquarters and admissions office are just a few blocks away from Station Square restaurant in Liberty.

After learning that medical schools in Ireland are helping students displaced from their studies in Ukraine transfer to other institutions, Avalon decided to do the same, Talstein, of Niles, said.

The school is offering up to $2 million in scholarships to students currently enrolled at a medical school in Ukraine. Each scholarship is about $40,000 and the school could take approximately 50 transfer students.

Ukraine has more than 45 medical schools, according to Ukraine Education, a website founded in 2012 to help students choose a university to study medicine in Ukraine.

Dr. Samir Fatteh, president of Avalon University, said students from all over the world study medicine in Ukraine — and many of them have been forced to leave the country due to the ongoing war.

“So when it comes to thousands of medical students being displaced, that pretty much means that their medical education is on hold, and it’s a big deal,” Fatteh said.

Avalon University School of Medicine was founded in 2003 by Valley physician and pathologist Dr. Shokat Fatteh.

Shokat Fatteh went to medical school in India then came to the United States in the late 1970s, Samir Fatteh said. He practiced in Youngstown for more than 30 years.

“I think that as he was practicing, international medical schools were becoming an option for U.S. students,” Samir Fatteh said. “He wanted to do his part and help students pursue their career in medicine.”

It’s very competitive to get into medical schools in the United States and Canada, Samir Fatteh said. Avalon, which is an accredited school, is another option. The accreditation is by ACCM (Accreditation Commission on Colleges of Medicine) and CAAM-HP (Caribbean Accreditation Authority for Education in Medicine and other Health Professions), according to its website.

Most of the school’s students come from the U.S. and Canada, but the school also has students from India, African nations, Europe and the Caribbean, Samir Fatteh said.

Students typically spend two years at the beachfront campus in Curacao then finish their studies at hospitals in the U.S.

Commencement is held in Youngstown at Stambaugh Auditorium.

Samir Fatteh said more than 500 of the school’s students have gone to practice medicine in the U.S., Canada, and most countries around the world.

As for the scholarships, Samir Fatteh said, “At the end of the day, in this world we’re all human beings, and we could help. That’s what we wanted to do.”

Word about the scholarships has been passed through Avalon’s international recruiters and through social media, Fatteh and Tom Morrow, director of admissions, said.

Around 10 to 15 students are “in the pipeline” for a transfer — though they must meet Avalon’s entry requirements, and there have been challenges getting academic records from schools in Ukraine.

Fatteh said it is still early in the process, but he has heard good feedback about the scholarship program and displaced students have been inquiring about Avalon “almost on a daily basis.”