Local med school providing US medical licensing course

Local medical students will soon be able to prepare in Jamaica for the United States licensing examination, thanks to the Caribbean School of Medical Sciences Jamaica (CSMSJ).

Representatives of the US-based PASS Program will conduct classes and tutorials on the United States Medical Licensing Review Programme at CSMSJ's centre in Kingston for four weeks in July and August of this year. The registration period is open until June 1.

The classes are open to medical students enrolled at CSMSJ, which is a partner institution of the University of the Commonwealth Caribbean (UCC), as well as other local and international institutions.

"This is a great opportunity where students are being given access to these coveted examinations which will not benefit only our students but also others from across the region," said Dr Winston Adam, group executive chairman of UCC.

Dean at CSMSJ, Dr Neville Graham, pointed to the employment opportunities that abound for medical doctors and other health professionals in the Unites States, with annual demand being 20,000 doctors, 30,000 nurses, 7,000 dentists and 15,000 other health personnel.

"By facilitating preparation for the US medical licensing examination in Jamaica, CSMSJ and UCC are ensuring that on graduation locally trained medical students can enjoy international accreditation and competence that qualify them to work in 85 per cent of countries globally," said Graham.

Training outside Jamaica

He added that agreements are in place for student doctors at CSMSJ to do clinical training in Cuba and the United States as well as in Jamaica.

According to Graham, the Ministry of Health has approved and gazetted the School of Anatomy at CSMSJ, which gives it the ability to work with cadavers for anatomy and pathology up to the postgraduate level.

He argued that if Jamaica is to fulfil Vision 2030 it is critical for local tertiary institutions to pool resources to reduce cost and achieve efficiency so that the quality of tertiary education can be comparable internationally.

Graham noted that CSMSJ and UCC have formed a partnership to achieve efficiencies in the delivery of academic programmes and the marketing and sharing of resources.

The partnership provides students enrolled in medical and health science programmes at CSMSJ with the opportunities to pursue courses in the social sciences and humanities and information technology that UCC traditionally provides.

Students pursuing these disciplines also have opportunities to include health-related courses in their programmes.