Medical institute opens doors in St Elizabeth

BLACK RIVER, St Elizabeth:

RESIDENTS OF St Elizabeth and its environs who want to study medicine will no longer have to journey to Kingston as a new institution has been established in the historic town of Black River.

The all American Institute of Medical Sciences is the first medical school to set up shop in Jamaica, outside the University of the West Indies.

The school is located on High Street in Black River, just a stone's throw away from the Black River Hospital on the historic (1894) Invercauld Great House property.

According to dean of the medical school, Dr Owen B James, the idea of an offshore medical school has been around for some time, but it was a medical doctor from Chicago who generated a plan which led to the school becoming officially chartered in 2009.

Gov't collaboration

"The business of starting a new school involves many stakeholders. We had to work with various government ministries including the ministries of Education, Health, Labour and Social Security and Ministry of Industry. JAMPRO was also quite instrumental in getting the campus established," said James.

The four-year programme will see students completing their first two years at the campus in Black River and two years of clinical study abroad. The current student cohort consist of 50 per cent international students and 50 per cent Jamaicans.

- André Gordon