Faculty of Medical Sciences
August 17 – 19, 2009
◦ Development of Phase 1 MB BS
program at Cave Hill
◦ Expansion of clinical Training to
several Govt institutions in Jamaica
◦ Accreditation of School of Veterinary
Medicine in St. Augustine
◦ Training in research methodology in
Bahamas facilitated by appt of clinical
epidemiologist
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Widespread participation in IDU workshops
and seminars on all campuses
All members of academic staff in new phase 1
programs in Cave Hill registered in teaching
certificate program (2 dropped out)
9 members of academic staff at Mona also
registered
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Participation in other courses:
St Augustine – 2 faculty from Dental School
attended conference at Lutheran Medical
Centre
3 attended UBC Certificate in Medical Ed.
Mona - 3 members of staff enrolled in
overseas distance medical education
programs
UWISON – in-house training in use of training
simulators
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No courses or programs eliminated
New Programs:
Cave Hill – Phase 1 MB BS, MPH
St Augustine - BSC Optometry, MPH,
MSc Nursing, BSc Oncology Nursing
Mona - MScN - Nurse Specialist Gerontology
Msc - Forensic Science, Microbiology and
Biotechnology of foods (BC32M/Micro3215)
 Ongoing
and extensive cross
campus collaboration on
curriculum harmonization
 Lead by UMCC, Curriculum
Coordinator and University
Dean
Achievements of UMCC
◦ Common admission criteria
◦ Professional behaviour and fitness to
practice to emphasize personal &
professional development
◦ Uniform grading schemes across
campuses
◦ Improved sequencing of courses to
facilitate inter-campus student
transfer
Courses with online and e-learning
components:
 Mona – Health Services Management
(HE21A)
 Increased use of video presentation
in lectures
 Ourvle platform facilitates learning
and interaction with students
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 Open
Campus partnerships:
◦ 11 courses in the BSc Nursing at
Mona
◦ Pre-Health Program in St
Augustine
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Noteworthy developments in Pedagogy
At Mona:
◦ Increased use of case based seminars (SF28D &
SF29D)
◦ IMP multimodal delivery –role play, video-taped
simulations and workshops-100% pass rate
◦ Understanding Research (HE31A) -student seminar
approach
◦ Attempts to reduce didactic load supported by
training by MEU
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Noteworthy developments in Curriculum
restructuring
At St Augustine
◦ Restructuring of Pathology from 36 credit course to
4 courses (MDSC3310)
◦ Introduction of sub disciplines in MPhil and PhD
Pathology programs
◦ Communication skills for Health Professionals
redesigned
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Noteworthy developments in Technological
innovation
At St Augustine
◦ Videoconferencing used in Dentistry and Veterinary
Medicine
◦ SANE uses illuminate for BSC Oncology Nursing in
conjunction with McMasters University
 Noteworthy
developments
technological innovation
 At Cave Hill
◦ Multi-modal approaches to the
teaching of Anatomy
◦ Multimodal approach to teaching
◦ e-learning
◦ Led by DME
 Noteworthy
developments in the
Bahamas
◦ Expansion of clinical teaching to
Family islands
◦ Videoconferencing capability
◦ Introduction of formal teaching
in medical ethics
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Ideal UWI Graduate
◦ Workshop and scenario-based teaching in courses
at Mona
◦ A new PG course “Scientific Presentation and
Critique” is to be introduced in St Augustine
◦ Enhanced teaching in communication skills and
leadership on all campuses
◦ The introduction of student award schemes at Mona
will develop leadership skills
 Ideal
UWI Graduate
 At Cave Hill
◦ Emphasis on life-long learning
◦ Use of Tutorials and web-based
learning encourages
collaboration and problem
solving
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Student enrolment
◦ Mona has 626 registered, 177 in Masters programs
◦ Bahamas, 40 students to be increased by 10 in
2009-2010
◦ St Augustine – 2 new masters programs in 2009 –
2010; MPH and MSc. Nursing
◦ Total enrolled 200
◦ Cave Hill – 2 new programs – MPH and Diploma in
Health Management;
◦ Total grad enrolment 50
◦ DrPH to commence on all campuses in 2009 -2010
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Strengthening research methodology
Research components in all graduate
programs
Training in research skills and biostatistics
In Bahamas and Mona – research scientists
appointed to assist with training of students
and staff
International collaboration through student
and staff exchange to expose students to
international scholars
Research Degree Programs:
 Cave Hill - 3 PhDs and 40 DM
students
 Highest ratio of Graduate :
undergraduates
 Mona 111 research degree students
registered
 Inadequate funding for graduate
programs on all campuses
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Research is aligned to national and regional
health priorities
Include:
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Chronic non-communicable diseases
HIV/AIDS
Asthma
Maternal & Child Health
Natural Products
Cancers
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Measures to strengthen research capacity
◦ Seminars & workshops in research skills and
biostatistics
◦ Employment of research scientists at Mona and in
the Bahamas
◦ Research fellowships with TMRI funded by the
Faculty at Mona
◦ Focus at Mona on administrative reform to improve
throughput and supervision
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Research output
Increased output on all campuses
33 percent increase at Mona last year
Research grants
◦ St Augustine -approx. TT $ 600,000 from graduate
Studies and research
◦ US $ 1.3 million at Mona mainly from international
sources
◦ Cave Hill –approx US $ 2million
Significant path breaking research
 Number of projects informed public
policy
 Invention of cardiac simulator by
SURRADIC, Computer Science & UTECH
 Adopted by several institution in USA to
train cardiac surgeons
 RCT to test new Dural substitute for
patients undergoing craniectomy
 Several patents pending
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International collaboration
RCT study “Jamaica Mother-Daughter HIV Risk
Reduction” in collaboration with the New York
University, University of Pennsylvania and
UWISON funded by the National Institutes of
Health
“Strengthening Nurses’ Capacity for HIV policy
development in Sub-Saharan Africa and the
Caribbean 2007-2011”, funded by IDRC on
behalf of the Global Health Initiative,
collaboratively with the University of Ottawa
and the University of Kyushu, Kenya..
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Strategic Planning
UWI Strategic Plan on agenda of Faculty Board
at Mona and in Cave Hill
Mona has published strategic plan –aligned to
UWI’s plan
Discussed at departmental meetings
Bahamas not involved in development of UWI
strategic plan
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Harmonization and rationalization across
campuses
FMS leader in harmonization
UMCC well established
COMDOM meets 3 times annually
Significant successes achieved
Ongoing
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Enrichment program
◦ Well established at Mona
◦ Staff member appointed for professional and
personal development
◦ Issues affecting student learning outside classroom
identified through interviews and addressed
through counseling
◦ Very successful in improving student performance
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Student Recognition
◦ Dean’s list and honour society at
Mona
◦ Dean’s list – all student with GPA
>3.69
◦ Annual Student Award ceremony
◦ Members of honour society are
mentored by prominent health
professionals
◦ Mentor other students
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Funding is a problem on all campuses
Barbados implemented faculty development
fund
St Augustine – revisiting fee arrangements
Mona – income generation through FFP
Programs
Thanks
for listening