DEPARTMENT OF SURGERY, RADIOLOGY, ANAESTHESIA & INTENSIVE CARE
Professor Joseph Plummer, DM, FASCRS, FACS – Head of Department
WORK IN THE DEPARTMENT The period under review saw the Department of Surgery, Radiology, Anaesthesia and Intensive Care (SURRADIC), like the rest of the University of the West Indies, enter the endemic phase of the COVID-19 with adaptation of our population to this new normal. We achieved the mandate of return to face-to face, nevertheless, there were some Departmental activities such as our multi-disciplinary meetings and some cross-teaching facilities lectures where the hybrid format persisted. Under- graduate teaching, fortunately, went back to full face-to-face teaching and this was reflected in the final MBBS examinations results with Mona being awarded the overall best MBBS Surgery performance across all campuses. More importantly, gratitude for the return of face-to-face teaching was also expressed by our students and lecturers who all know the importance of bedside clinical teachings to the MBBS outcome. The blended mode of delivery was honed by the full complement of staff and appreciated for its convenience and cost savings, especially our distributive method of clinical teachings to seven teaching hospitals across the island. The advance and cost savings of a virtual format was taken advantage of including some of our postgraduate examinations that are only written and oral components. It is therefore true that some increase interactions in the virtual world will remain a gift from the COVID-19 compared to the pre-pandemic era including the various multidisciplinary meetings. The same can be said about the widely used Zoom platform. This increase in the availability and use of technology allows for greater consultation and collaboration in teaching, clinical care, and research, again to our advantage of cost savings while increasing quantity and maintaining quality. Our research efforts continue to lag behind the Campus average and this is rec- ognised not only by the Department members but also by the Faculty and Campus leaders. Nevertheless, our collaborative research activities saw three members of the Department being honoured by the Campus for outstanding research activ- ities. There are several Faculty wide initiatives that once active, will bear fruit in the upcoming years.
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