Minister of Health, Hon. Rudyard Spencer says the Health Ministry has invested millions of dollars over the years in the training of health workers. He explained that since 2004, the Ministry of Health through the National Health Fund has spent more than $346 million training some 5,379 health workers including doctors, nurses, pharmacists and public health inspectors.

Minister Spencer who was speaking at today’s official opening of the CHASE Carnegie Skills Laboratory at the Department of Surgery, Anaesthesia, Radiology and Intensive Care at the University of the West Indies, says this year, $128 million has been allocated for training in the Doctors of Medicine Programme.

“The Doctors of Medicine Programme which started in 2007/08 has been allocated more than $676M since then. The opening of this skills lab is another investment of the State in training and development. The CHASE Fund operates within policy guidelines and supports the priorities of the Government in key sectors,” he said.  CHASE provided a grant of $25 million dollars towards the construction of the lab. The lab is intended to enable the training of students in a more efficient and effective way using modern techniques.

It will do this through the use of patient models, surgical simulators, cadavers and small animal models.  It will also allow for videoconferencing and distance teaching. The lab currently links the UWI’s Mona and Montego Bay campuses and Yale University in the United States.

The Skills Lab is named for Dr. Alfred Carnegie, who has made significant contribution to the development and practice of surgery in Jamaica

 

Stephanie Shaw Smith
Manager - Public Relations & Communication
Ministry of Health
2-4 King Street
Kingston
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967-1100-4 (Switch board) Ext: 2524, 2441/2; 2515
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