Health Ministry and UHWI Sign MOU for Training of Medical and Nursing Students

The Ministry of Health and the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) this morning (April 26) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), to formalise arrangements for the ongoing training of the island’s medical and nursing personnel.
The MOU will take effect in the 2007/08 academic year and will last for a period of five years, following which it will be revised.
Minister of Health, Horace Dalley, in his remarks at the signing ceremony held in the UHWI’s boardroom, explained that under the arrangement, hospitals managed by the Ministry will be recognised by the University of the West Indies (UWI) as clinical training sites for medical, nursing, and students in other health professional groups.
“The Ministry of Health and the Regional Health Authorities will give priority for clinical places to such students from the UWI. The UWI will be responsible for accrediting these institutions for training based on criteria laid down by the Caribbean Accreditation Authority for Medicine and other health professionals,” he said. The UWI, he indicated, will support the efforts of the Ministry to upgrade its facilities to reach the required accreditation standards.
Students eligible for clinical training at the health facilities are: those taking the medical training programme; elective medical students registered with the UWI; nursing students in undergraduate and graduate programmes; physical therapy students pursuing bachelors and graduate programmes; students in the diagnostic imaging bachelors programme; and graduate students in medicine.
According to the Health Minister, the move is critical for the next stage of development of the UHWI and the Faculty of Medical Sciences. “There is a partnership; we have pledged the support, and we have pledged the legislative and policy decisions if necessary and the financial resources from the government. I want you now to pledge to the people of Jamaica that you will keep your standards, and you will make sure that this facility remains the number one premier facility in the English-speaking Caribbean,” he stated.
Professor Archibald McDonald, Acting Chief Executive Officer of UHWI and Dean of the Faculty of Medical Sciences, indicated that the new arrangement will enable the training of medical and health students in small groups.
“What we do in the faculty is small group teaching and the nurses as well prefer to teach students in small groups of say four to eight and for the medical students, no more than eight students should be around a bed. Clearly, the UHWI will not be able to do this,” Professor McDonald said.
“So we intend to expand the teaching to other institutions and as early as May 2007, we will have students doing formal rotation through the Cornwall Regional Hospital,” he informed, noting that facilities at Spanish Town and Mandeville will also be utilized.
He gave the university’s commitment to “putting in the (institutions), the facilities that students need, things such as libraries and computers. That is the commitment on the part of the University of the West Indies; to assist these institutions in upgrading those facilities, which are needed by students,” he stated.
In the meantime, Professor McDonald informed that a new building is slated to be constructed for the department of Basic Medical Sciences on lands adjacent to the University Hospital. He informed that construction should commence in January 2008.
“Once those facilities are in place, we intend to increase enrolment (in the faculty of Medical Sciences) to 300 students. Now, in order to train these 300 students, we need access to the government institutions, which is another reason why this MOU is so important,” he pointed out.