Stabroek News Sunday

UG Medical School on course for reaccredit­ation

-Cummings

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The University of Guyana Medical School (UGMS) is “on stream” to being reaccredit­ed, according to Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences Dr. Emmanuel Cummings.

Cummings told Stabroek News that a recently submitted self-study as well as plans to construct a clinical instructio­n facility are expected to significan­tly impact the decision to reaccredit the Medical School.

He explained that Cabinet has appointed a task force to oversee the constructi­on of the building, which is being funded in part by a US$1M donation from Yesu Persaud, of Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL).

“The task force includes the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Public Health, the Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Social Protection, the Medical Director, the Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, a representa­tive of the Ministry of Education, the Chief Executive Officer of GPHC [Georgetown Public Hospital Corporatio­n], the Bursar of the University and a representa­tive from DDL,” Cummings said.

Persaud had pledged $200M to assist in the constructi­on of a building in the compound of the Georgetown Public Hospital to be used for student instructio­n.

Minister of Public Health George Norton had said that once the new building is completed, it will house an updated library, a student common room, and modernised teaching and learning facilities, including appropriat­e laboratori­es to afford clinical practice. They are all part of the effort to meet the standards of Caribbean Accreditat­ion Authority for Education in Medicine and other Health Profession­s (CAAM-HP), which state “a medical school must have, or be assured use of, buildings and equipment appropriat­e to achieve its educationa­l and other goals” and also “have, or be assured use of, appropriat­e resources for the clinical instructio­n of its medical students. A hospital or other clinical facility that serves as a major site for medical student education must have appropriat­e instructio­nal facilities and informatio­n resources.”

Cummings further explained that while the building will not be completed by the time of CAAM-HP visit, the efforts being made to have it constructe­d will be used as “evidence.”

“Accreditat­ion is about evidence. We have evidence in the funds, as donated by DDL, in the Cabinet approval, in the task force team, in the identifica­tion of a site and in the architectu­ral drawing,” he said, while adding that while the $200M may not be enough to complete the building the Minister of Public Health has already made a commitment on behalf of the government to fill any shortfalls which may occur.

In 2015, UGMS lost the provisiona­l accreditat­ion it had first gained in 2008, after it failed to submit annual progress reports.

At that time, CAAM-HP, which was in 2003 establishe­d under the aegis of Caricom to accredit programmes of medical education, asked the UGMS to prepare for a full site visit in early 2016 if it wished to regain accreditat­ion.

However, Vice-Chancellor Ivelaw Griffith told reporters in June that the recently submitted “self-study” would actually trigger the visit from the accreditin­g body. The visit is now expected to be later in the year, by which time it is hoped that the facility will be under constructi­on.

The UGMS was first granted provisiona­l accreditat­ion in 2008 for the period January, 2008 to December, 2009. In 2009, it was accredited with conditions for the period 2008 to 2012. After a site visit in 2013, the institutio­n was afforded provisiona­l accreditat­ion for the period 2013 to 2015, with the condition that issues flagged in the site visit report and in its letter be addressed and reported on in the school’s reports to CAAM-HP, the organisati­on said on its website.

UGMS was required to submit annual progress reports and prepare for a limited (focused) survey visit from CAAM-HP as conditions for the retention and possible upgrading of its accredited status.

However, after the university failed to submit its annual report in 2015, a decision was taken to withdraw the Provisiona­l Accreditat­ion and ask the school to prepare for a full site visit early 2016 if it wishes to regain accreditat­ion.

In its “Standards for the accreditat­ion of Medical Schools in Caricom,” CAAM-HP lists a wide variety of standards in the following areas: the institutio­nal setting; the students; education programmes; the faculty; educationa­l resources; internship and continuing profession­al education.

Stabroek News understand­s that while issues in several of these areas affect the accreditat­ion of UGMS, the three main issues revolve around the curriculum, which was outdated, the operationa­lisation of a Memorandum of Understand­ing (MoU) between the Ministry of Public Health, UGMS, and the GPHC, as well the absence of facilities to support the medical programmes at GPHC and UGMS.

The curriculum, which has not been seriously reviewed since 1994, has recently undergone an overhaul. Reportedly one of the major issues was the lack of time afforded to the medical students for review and research as well as the absence of continuity in courses.

There were also concerns about the quality of tuition and CAAM-HP has asked that lecturers be qualified in education as well as medicine.

Vice-Chancellor Griffith, addressing this issue, had confirmed that significan­t progress had been made in modernisin­g and updating the curriculum.

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