131 to receive Barry Wint Memorial scholarships

One hundred and thirty-one persons are set to receive Dr Barry Wint Memorial Scholarships this year, pushing the total number of recipients to more than 800 since the programme began in 2024.

The developmental scholarships are aimed at training persons to return to the healthcare sector and help in needed areas of a period of time.

“This scholarship was announced three years ago where the government would provide resources to train persons in areas where we have gaps for them to come back and work in the system for a period of three years,” said Dr Christopher Tufton, minister of health and wellness, in congratulating this year’s crop of recipients.

The scholarships are awarded across several healthcare fields.

Seven scholarships have been awarded in mental health and social work, while another three have gone towards speech and language therapy. In healthcare administration and management, four scholarships have been awarded.

The largest number of scholarships was awarded in specialist nursing and midwifery, with 23 recipients, followed by medicine, with 21.

Other areas covered by the scholarships include health information and records management; public health specialisation; environmental health; allied health; oral health; biomedical engineering; clinical medical physics; and gerontology and geriatric medicine.

Priority fields

The Dr Barry Wint Memorial Scholarship Programme, named in honour of the former chief medical officer, is an initiative of the Ministry of Health and Wellness that awards up to $1 million annually per student for healthcare-related studies in priority fields such as nursing, biomedical engineering and medicine.

Under the scholarship programme, recipients are generally bonded to serve within Jamaica’s public health sector for a stipulated period after graduation.

The scholarship programme forms part of the government’s strategic response to build capacity, fill gaps and strengthen the health system to ensure that every Jamaican, whether urban or rural, regardless of circumstance, has access to quality healthcare.

The 2026 scholarship recipients are to be presented with their certificates on Friday.

editorial@gleanerjm.com