The site visit that will determine the reaccreditation of the University of Guyana’s Medical School is set for the end of November, and a large part of the university’s supplemental budget will go toward improving the school’s conditions, according to Vice-Chancellor Ivelaw Griffith.
Griffith made the announcement at a press conference last Friday, where he also stated that of the $108 million approved in supplemental funds for the university, a significant portion would go toward aiding the Medical School and Health Sciences faculty.
Last year, the Medical School lost the accreditation gained in 2008, after the institution failed to submit annual progress reports to the Caribbean Accreditation Authority for Education in Medicine and other Health Professions (CAAM-HP), which will conduct the site visit.
“The reaccreditation is a journey, it’s not an event,” Griffith noted, while explaining that there were several conditions that need to be satisfied before the school could be reaccredited.
Among these are the employment of more full-time lecturers and upgrades to the physical facilities, which he reminded were affected by an electrical fire some time back in the Faculty of Health Sciences.
“We are moving, I think, progressively to organise and deliver better on the curriculum, which is one of the concerns of the accreditors. We are working to assure that we tighten the clinical arrangements between, for example, the University of Guyana and the Public Hospital Corporation and there are other clinical engagements that we have,” Griffith said.
Griffith opined that the university is “well along” in its journey to reaccreditation and added that while he does not believe they have met all the milestones, what they do have is “enough evidence of institutional intent to support” as well as a plan.
It is expected that a preliminary report will be returned within three months of the site visit and a formal vote will follow. The Vice-Chancellor stated that in his estimation, it would be at least six months before the decision of reaccreditation was made.
