Minister of Health and Wellness Lt. Col. Jeffrey Bostic shakes hands with Principal of the Cave Hill Campus, UWI, The Most Honourable Professor Eudine Barriteau after today’s signing ceremony. At left is Acting Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Anton Best while at right is Chairman of the QEH’s Board of Management, Juliette Bynoe-Sutherland. (B. Hinds/BGIS)

As Barbados prepares to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with Kenya in the next few days, local medical students are expected to benefit through the provision of internships at hospitals in Kenya.

News of this came today from Minister of Health and Wellness, Lt. Col. Jeffrey Bostic, during the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Ministry, the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

This MOU, which was first formalized in 1967, and which will cover the next five years, 2019 to 2024, provides for clinical training of UWI students in local hospitals and polyclinics.

 Minister Bostic said that the level of collaboration and cooperation between the Ministry, the QEH and the UWI transcended the signing of the MOU, describing the UWI, Cave Hill Campus’ School of Medicine as “the bedrock of healthcare services in Barbados”.

Expanding on the benefits expected to accrue from the Kenyan MOU, the Health Minister said there would be opportunities for Kenyan students to enrol at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, as well as employment opportunities for local doctors in Kenya, since that country was experiencing a shortage of doctors

The other area of interest between the two countries was research, he said, revealing that there had been lengthy discussions between the President of Kenya, the Prime Minister and himself about establishing a collaborative initiative involving Kenya, the Ministry of Health and Wellness and the UWI to do research in the area of non-communicable diseases.            

Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley will lead the official delegation to Kenya, which will also include Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator Dr. Jerome Walcott, who will sign the MOU on behalf of the Government of Barbados.

joy.springer@barbados.gov.bb

Pin It on Pinterest