FACULTY OF MEDICAL
SCIENCES
MONA
Year ending July 31, 2007
Professor Archibald McDonald, MBBS, FRCSEd, FACS,
DM (Surgery) UWI – Dean
129
Dean’s Overview
During the past academic year the Faculty of Medical Sciencesconcentrated on four main areas: improving the teaching and
learning experience for our students, increasing access, infra-structural
improvements and resource generation. Despite serious challenges the
faculty achieved most of its targets set at the beginning of the year. The
MB BS regulations including the GPA system were completed and
instituted at the start of the new academic year. The modules were
revised and converted into full UWI courses. Students are required to
pass every course and maintain a minimum GPA of 2.0. In Nursing,
UWISON received high commendations from the Quality Assurance
Unit for the high quality of its programmes despite inadequate resources.
This year UWISON will graduate 217 nursing students from the Mona
Campus and the Community colleges through its franchising
arrangements. This is the first time that nursing students will graduate
from the Mona Campus.
In keeping with the increasing demand for health care workers
worldwide, student enrolment was increased by 22 percent in the
faculty. This trend will continue despite the modest two percent growth
in enrolment projected for theMona Campus by the UWI strategic plan
for the five year period 2007 – 2012. The faculty still admits only 10
percent of qualified applicants to the MB BS programme and less than
20 percent to the undergraduate nursing programmes. UWISON
through a collaborative effort with Ryerson University, Toronto
Canada, now offers its Baccalaureate programme online to students in
the UWI-12 countries.
Infrastructural improvements continued with completion of the
refurbishing of the Hopwood computer centre and the installation of 70
new computers. The design of the UWISON expansion was completed
and construction is to begin soon. Plans for the new Basic Medical
Sciences complex are being developed and construction is expected to
130
begin early in the calendar year 2008. This facility will not only improve
the learning experience for our students but will provide state of the art
laboratories to enhance our research capabilities.
Student Enrollment and Access
The Faculty continues to increase annual student enrolment. Despite
the target of two percent posited for the Mona Campus in the UWI’s
strategic plan for the period 2007 -2012 this trend will continue for
several years. The Health Care industry is the fastest growing industry
worldwide and therefore there is an increased demand for health care
workers. Student enrolment increased by 22 percent compared with 27
percent the previous year. The table shows the enrolment in the
respective programmes for the academic year 2006 – 2007 compared
with the previous year. Over the two-year period 2005 – 2007
enrolment increased by 37 percent.
Student Enrolment in the Faculty 2006 / 2007 vs 2005/ 2006
Programme Majors & Minors No. of students No. of students
2006/7 2005/6
BBMedSci Anatomy 5 5
Biochemistry 10 6
Pharmacology 25 20
Physiology 6 4
Subtotal 46 35
BSc. Nursing (Post RN) 109 43
Nursing (generic) 640 471
Nursing Administration 0 0
Physical Therapy 52 49
Subtotal 801 563
Certificate Nursing Administration
MB BS Bachelor of Medicine & 702 631
Surgery
Total 1503 1229
During the year plans to commence a Bachelor’s programmes in Speech
and Occupational Therapy were developed. Funding for these
programmes was obtained from the Environmental Foundation of
Jamaica. These programmes will be developed through expansion of the
BBMedSci programme.
131
In addition UWISON now offers the Post RN Baccalaureate
programme online and there are now 211 students, mainly from the
non-UWI 12 countries, enrolled. This was developed in collaboration
with Ryerson University.
The Bachelor’s Programme in Diagnostic Imaging (Radiography), a
collaborative effort with the School of Medical Radiation Technology of
the University Hospital commenced in this academic year and 30
students are registered.
Enhancing Quality and Student Centredness
The Stage 1 of the MB BS Programme continues to be very challenging.
The new curriculum was revised and all modules are now UWI courses.
The regulations were revised and students must pass all courses. The
GPA system was implemented and requires that all students maintain a
minimum GPA of 2. In the stage 1 examinations held June 2007 about
20 percent of students failed. A remedial programme was introduced for
the first time in the faculty at this level. It included not only an academic
aspect but also psychological and cultural components. The results of
this intervention were astounding with all students passing the
supplemental examination which was held six weeks after the first
examination. The faculty recognizes that a significant number of our
students suffers from psychological disorders and also have difficulty
making the cultural and social adjustments to campus and university
life. Arising out of this successful remedial programme, the faculty has
designed, with assistance from a private contractor, an orientation
programme for all new students, which addresses all these components.
This is to be incorporated into the orientation programme as of
academic year 2007 / 2008.
The second cohort of students in the revised MB BS programme
graduated in June 2007. 96 students sat the final examinations and the
results were the best seen in recent years and probably the best ever with
only nine students failing and no student failing more than one subject.
Seven students graduated with honours degrees.
Despite inadequate space and high staff: student ratios, UWISON
continues to produce excellent results. Two hundred and seventeen
students successfully completed the BScN Programme and 78 have been
recommended for first class honours. The graduating class consists of
105 students from the Mona Campus, 61 and 48 from Excelsior and
Brown’s Town Community College respectively. This is the first group
132
of students from the Baccalaureate Nursing Programme to graduate
from the Mona Campus.
As indicated in last year’s report, the faculty commenced clinical
training at Cornwall Regional Hospital in Montego Bay. An associate
Dean was appointed to co-ordinate our activities in Western Jamaica in
anticipation of the development of UWI Western Jamaica. This will
ensure continuation of our policy of small group teaching with a
maximum student: staff ration of 6: 1. Teaching at Victoria Jubilee and
Kingston Public Hospitals was also expanded. A major challenge facing
the faculty is improving facilities for teaching at these non-UHWI
teaching sites. AMemorandum of Understanding between theMinistry
of Health and the UWI was signed during the year. This gives our
students first call on training facilities in government institutions.
A review of UWISON’s programmes was done by the Quality
Assurance Department. The Department received high commendation
for maintaining high quality.
STUDENT ACHIEVEMENTS
Undergraduate Programme
The Faculty graduated 356 undergraduate students in Academic Year
2006/2007:
MB, BS 96
BSc Nursing 232
BSc Physical Therapy 15
BBMedSci 13
Of the 146 candidates of the Class of 2009 sat the Stage I
MBBS/BMedSci examination, 91 students were successful in the first
attempt; four gained honors with distinctions, and 33 honours. All 18
failing students passed the supplemental examinations after the
remedial programme.
MBBS Examination Results
The MBBS examination results for Academic Year 2006/2007 were as
follows:
133
Pass Honours Distinction Fail
Medicine (MD 500) 93 11 1 3
Surgery (SU 500 ) 93 9 0 3
Obstetrics & Gynaecology 95 2 11 1
(OG 500 )
BSc Nursing Results
Category of Students Graduating Nov. 2007 Status
BSN (generic) Mona campus 105 1st Class= 54
Upper 2nd= 53
Lower 2nd = 1
BScN (generic) franchised at EXED 61 1st Class= 18
Upper 2nd= 41
Lower 2nd =2
BScN (generic) franchised at 48 (9 from 1st Class= 6
Brown’s Town Community College previous class)* Upper 2nd = 32
Lower 2nd =9
Pass=1
BScN (generic) franchised at N/A
Knox Community College
Sub-Total-BScN (generic) 208+9*=217
BScN (post RN) 15 1st Class =2
Upper 2nd =9
Lower 2nd =3
Pass =1
BScN (post RN) online delivery
GRAND TOTAL Undergraduates 232
Prizes Awarded
The following students were awarded prizes in the Final MB BS
examinations for Academic Year 2006/2007:
Overall Clinical Medal Lori-Ann Mae Fisher
Medal - Medicine and Therapeutics Lori-Ann Mae Fisher
Medal - Obstetrics and Gynaecology De-Ann Williams
Medal – Surgery Sarah Grace Marshall
General Surgery Prize Sarah Grace Marshall
Sir Harry Annamunthodo Prize in Surgery Christopher Wilks
Allenbury Prize in Medicine Lori-Ann Mae Fisher
Bank of Nova Scotia Prize Lori-Ann Mae Fisher
Professor Owen Morgan Prize Lori-Ann Mae Fisher
134
Research
In the year under review the faculty published 185 papers in peer
reviewed journals. Ninety abstracts were also published and there were
234 presentations at local, regional and international conferences. The
publications by department are shown in the table below.
The publication rate of 1.1 exceeded the target of 1.0 set for the year and
represents a slight increase over last year.
Publications per Department
Department Publications Conference
Presentations
UWI School of Nursing (UWISON) 10 13
Basic Medical Sciences 36 27
Community Health & Psychiatry 19 65
Medicine 13 33
Obstetrics, Gynaecology & Child Health 20 65
Pathology 17 19
Microbiology 4 4
Surgery, Radiology, Anaesthesia & 19 27
Intensive Care
TMRU / Sickle Cell Unit 47 –
TOTAL 185 226
Research Awards
The following papers were judged best publications in the faculty for the
academic year and received awards at the Principal’s Research Awards
Ceremony.
Professor Susan Walker, Dr. Susan M. Chang, Dr. Christine Powell and
their colleagues - “Effects of Early Childhood psychosocial stimulation
and nutritional supplementation on cognition and education in growth-
retarded Jamaican children: prospective cohort study”. Published in
the October 19th 2005 issue of the Lancet.
Professor Barrie Hanchard and Professor Rainford Wilks - “Human T
Lymphotropic Virus Types I and II Western Blot Seroindeterminate
Status and Its Association with Exposure to Prototype HTLV-I”
Published in the journal of Infectious Diseases volume 193: in 2006.
135
Dr. Ruby Lisa Lindo - “Aqueous Chemistry of the VanadiumIII and the
VanadiumIII – Dipicolinate Systems and a Comparison of the Effect of
Three Oxidation States of Vanadium Compounds on Diabetic
Hyperglycemia in Rats.” This was published in the journal Inorganic
Chemistry Volume 44 No 15, in 2005.
Research Grants
The Faculty continues to attract a significant number of research grants.
During the year, excluding the TMRI, US $5.2 million in research
grants was obtained by the faculty. Approximately US $ 8 million in
grants was obtained by TMRI. The breakdown of this can be found in
the individual departmental reports.
Conferences, Workshops and Seminars
The Faculty hosted several conferences and seminars during academic
year 2006/2007. These are listed in the individual departmental reports
but included:
 The Annual Nursing Midwifery Research Conference and
Mary Seivwright Day, hosted by the UWISON and held at the
Jamaica Conference Centre May 31- June 1, 2007. The
conference theme was “Nursing Research Providing Evidence
for Improved Nursing Practice”.
 The 15th Annual Research Conference and Workshop with
the theme “Drug Development from Natural Products: Past,
Present and Future.” November 15-17, 2006.
Income Generation and Diversification
The main income generating project for the faculty was again its MB BS
full fee paying and Baccalaureate nursing programmes. These
programmes earned approximately JA $ 326million. Significant income
was also generated from clinical trials, projects and consultancies mainly
through the Mona Institute of Medical Sciences (MIMS).
Graduate Studies
TheMaster of Science in Sports Medicine commenced in this academic
year and to date 13 students are registered. As sports are important to
the region this is strategic as the UWI must take a leadership position
with respect to this growing field. In addition our athletes who have
performed at world class standard over a long period of time, deserve
assistance from our brightest minds to give them the scientific support
and medical care they need.
136
All our DM programmes were revised and the regulations reviewed and
published. A research component is now included in all our
programmes. Through the Research Resource Centre in the Office of
the Dean, residents are trained in basic research methodology and
biostatics. This programme is to be offered online during academic year
2007 / 2008. Efforts were made to improve supervision of students in
research degree programmes but there is still a lot of work to be done in
this area. The Graduate Committee has been mandated to ensure that
these graduate students no longer wait many years to complete their
programmes.
The Faculty awarded the following postgraduates Degrees during the
academic year:
DM Anaesthetists 3
DM Emergency Medicine 3
DM Medicine 3
DM Internal Medicine 6
DM Obstetrics & Gynaecology 1
DM Paediatrics 5
DM Psychiatry 2
DM Radiology 5
DM Surgery 3
MPhil Biochemistry 3
PhD Biochemistry 2
PhD Nutrition 1
There were 520 Graduate students registered in the Faculty during the
academic year. This included 39 Ph. D. students. The number of
students registered in each discipline is shown below.
DM Programmes
Anaestheisia 19
Child Health 1
Emergency Medicine 15
Family medicine 1
Haematology 3
Haematology Clinical 2
Medicine 9
Medicine Internal 10
Microbiology 1
Obstetrics & Gynaecology 31
137
Opthalmology 4
Paediatrics 19
Psychiatry 8
Radiology 13
Surgery – ENT 3
Surgery – General 29
Surgery – Neurological 1
Surgery – Orthopaedics 8
Surgery – Otorhinilaryngology 3
Surgery – Paediatrics 1
Surgery – Urology 2
Total 184
MDMedicine 1
MPH
Health Education/Health Promotion 1
Public Health 1
MSc
Clinical Psychology 1
Counselling 83
Family medicine 12
Microbiology 2
Nursing (Administration) 10
Nursing (Education) 22
Nursing (Family Nurse Practitioner) 16
Nursing (MHealth/Psychiatric Nurse Prac.) 4
Nutrition 24
Total 174
MPhil
Anatomy 1
Biochemistry 25
Pharmacology 12
Physiology 8
Public Health 10
Total 56
138
PhD
Biochemistry 13
Clinical Psychology 6
Microbiology 2
Nutrition 5
Pharmacology 6
Physiology 2
Psychology 4
Public Health 4
Total 39
Conclusion
The Faculty continues to perform well in key areas such as research,
income generation and grants, curriculum development and review,
increasing access and quality enhancement. Its graduate programmes
saw significant improvement during the year. Our graduate programmes
have been criticized for a lack of emphasis on research degrees and this is
now clearly been addressed with the inclusion of a research component
in our DM programmes, the training of DM students in research
methodology and biostatics and also approval of the appropriate
regulation to allow joint registration for DM / PhD degrees. In order to
continue its development and improve the learning experience for its
students the faculty will seek to increase the number of international
students enrolled, in the new academic year. Diversity in the student
population is important for our students to acquire the range of social
skills which are important to workers in the health care profession. The
construction of the new Basic Medical Sciences building and the
expansion of theMary Seivwright building which houses UWISON is to
take place in 2007/2008. These projects will not only provide space but
will enhance our research and teaching capabilities. A workshop will be
held in the 2007 / 2008 academic year to put in place an operating plan,
based on the UWI strategic plan, to guide its work over the next five
years.
139