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DEPARTMENT OF BASIC MEDICAL SCIENCES
fees programmes, but also because they will represent the quality of the teaching received at the University in front of their future patients. Two consultancy service units are also part of the Department. An established independent commercial Forensic Toxicology Unit under the name “CARIBBEAN TOXICOLOGY” (CARITOX) continues to build its core forensic and bio-analytical research. CARITOX provides forensic toxicology and consultancy services to the legal profession involved in both civil and criminal cases as well as clinical and non-clinical toxicology analytical services. Caribbean Genetics (CARIGEN) pro- vides a wide range of services and analyses, including forensic services, to clients. It also supports teaching at the graduate and undergraduate levels in forensic science and research within the University. Quality Assurance Reviews and Accreditations The Department underwent a Quality Assurance Review in November 2021 when the department was still operating online. A report on this Quality Assurance Review performed in November 2021 as well as related answers, was presented to the Faculty of Medical Sciences Board Meeting in November 2022 and to the Academic Board Meeting on January 10, 2023. Different points were underlined in this report, namely the financial constraints which impacted negatively on teaching and research and were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the poor state of the Animal house, the Academic teaching overload, as well as the systemic issues with postgraduate students’ dissatisfaction and attrition. The report presented in January 2023 highlighted the financial constraints being faced by the Department which at that time were due to a reduction in the budget as a result of the pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted the normal functioning of The UWI and the Department of BMS, in particular. Lim- ited financial resources due in part to the reduced number of students, particularly in the MBBS programme in this academic year, has further imposed financial constraints on staff and students. The number of MBBS students is about 170 in AY2022–2023. It contrasts with a number of students higher than 250 registered in the MBBS programme before the pandemic. It should be noted that several Universities overseas were also impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic with a reduction of students in the same order (minus 21–25% over three years) as the one observed at The UWI. Partly due to the pandemic, the overall budget of the Department was drastically reduced during Academic Years 2020–2021 and 2021–2022. The sum allocated to the reagents used for teaching and research, as well as for cleaning supplies decreased substantially. We had to adapt our activities to this reduction of the budget allocation. Somehow, this was partly possible because of a reduced traffic
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