The UWI Five Islands and AUA will collaborate on program to qualify more nurses in an attempt to meet global shortage
The University of the West Indies (UWI) Five Islands Campus will be undertaking a program whose aim is to help fill the gaps in healthcare that have been identified globally.
Its Principal, Professor Denzil Williams, says the qualification of healthcare workers, in particular nurses, is one function the new campus plans to harness.
One of the things that The UWI Five Islands has to do, the Principal says, is identify what is going to be its unique value proposition to the world.
Given the type of infrastructure now being built across the OECS region – and given the global demand for healthcare workers – he says there is a clear competitive advantage for the university to offer a solution to that particular problem.
He says The UWI Five Islands is looking forward to collaborating with the American University of Antigua (AUA) on this venture, since the medical school has the legacy and experience in health sciences.
Meanwhile, Vernon Solomon, AUA’s Vice President of Administrative Services and Community Affairs, says there are several areas in which there is a physician shortage around the globe.
And, he adds, the shortage seems to have spread to the area of nursing.
The two men made these remarks during a handing-over ceremony in which the AUA College of Medicine donated six microscopes to The UWI Five Islands. They are to be used to teach courses offered by the faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences.
