Dean’s Overview
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WORK IN THE FACULTY T he academic year 2022/ 2023 saw the Faculty of Medical Sciences continuing to work on the initiatives that were created from the strategic goals that were outstanding from the previous academic year and setting new goals and targets to achieve in this academic year. The Faculty continued to streamline its operations by improving processes/guidelines/policies that would better guide the Faculty going forward. In this strategic plan the Faculty examined its operations and develop initiatives to make it more efficient and be more cost efficient. Monetary constraints remained a big stumbling block for the faculty as several of our suppliers were owed outstanding sums of money for services rendered. This impacted in particular, the maintenance of the Faculty Teaching and Research Complex which is the main building of the Faculty, the UWISON building, and several of our building on the University Hospital Compound which belongs to the University. The UWISON building in particular was infested by mold and the delay in having this addressed lead to serious issues with the Nursing Council where the year one students were not indexed for the first semester of the Academic year. This lead to the first year students having to do an extra semester in the summer to compensate for that first semester. This situation had to be managed very carefully by both the Faculty and Campus leaders to avoid significant bad publicity for the Campus. The buildings on the Hospital’s compound which housed the Pathology Department, the Medicine and Surgery Offices and the West Indian Medical Journal (WIMJ) Office were all affected by the lack of funds to address infrastructural issues. The Pathology Department was the site of several fires due to electrical issues and areas of their operations had to be suspended due to unsatisfactory working conditions in the laboratories. The WIMJ Office had to be relocated as the building that they occupied had severe leaks due to damages to the roof which have not been repaired to date. The Department of Medicine has been facing an absence of its regular elec- trical supply due to high voltage issues and there have been delays in addressing this issue due to monetary constraints with the latest developments concerning the status of the Power Upgrade Project for the Department of Medicine.
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