#Providenciales, June 20, 2019 – Turks and Caicos Islands – InterHealth Canada – Turks and Caicos Islands Hospital has been granted accreditation status from the University of the West Indies Caribbean Association of Medical Councils (C.A.M.C) to offer medical internships. The Chairman of the UWI Accreditation Committee, Professor Trevor McCartney along with a team of other industry experts conducted an onsite assessment in February 2019 following an application by the private healthcare management company.
Medical
graduates are required to successfully complete a one-year rotation in the four
major disciplines of Internal Medicine, General Surgery, Obstetrics and
Gynaecology and Paediatrics. These medical interns must commit three months to
each discipline to become eligible for full registration in their home state,
and meet the clinical and academic requirements for registration in all CARICOM
states.
Medical interns
are physicians who have successfully completed all of the requirements to
receive provisional registration and practice licenses. Medical interns receive
training for a period of 4 to 5 years prior to graduating as doctors. The
advancement of the internship program involves a partnership between
InterHealth Canada (IHC) and the Turks and Caicos Islands Government (TCIG).
While the UWI accreditation grants the hospital the option to commence
rotations as early as July 1st, 2019, additional steps are required.
The next
step involves the submission of an application to become a locally registered
teaching hospital under the Ministry of Education and the
presentation of a business case to TCI Government via the Change Procedure
outlined in the Project Agreement. This proposal will seek funds to support
four new medical intern positions and four registrar level positions.
A multi-stakeholder meeting involving local entities is planned to discuss
the implementation process.
Commenting
on the accreditation, Dean of Medical Sciences at the UWI Mona Campus, Dr
Tomlin Paul stated: “The Faculty of Medical Sciences, UWI Mona, is delighted to
have news of a successful accreditation of the Turks & Caicos Islands (TCI)
Hospital. This augurs well for the continued education of our Medical Graduates
from the TCI. We look forward to working with the Hospital’s Administration in
the continued development of Human Resources for the Caribbean Health Sector.”
Chief
Executive Officer at IHC-TCI Hospital, Daniel Carriere
stated: “Our successful accreditation as a teaching facility via the
University of West Indies denotes a major milestone for the TCI Hospital. The
fact that we will host medical interns will dramatically enhance our ability to
continuously improve service delivery for our patients. The associated
expectations will also provide a platform to develop other teaching programs,
greater flexibility in our staffing requirements within the medical services
and decrease our reliance on locum appointments. In addition, the teaching
designation will further support the recruitment and retention of highly
skilled staff.”
Chief of
Medical Services at IHC-TCI Hospital, Dr Denise Braithwaite-Tennant
stated: “The introduction of medical interns is expected to increase our
physician-patient ratios, accelerate learning, drive innovation, improve health
outcomes, enhance the patient experience, quality of care and patient safety.
Consultants will supervise the medical interns’ performance and guide their
professional development. Our objective is to transform the long-standing
single consultant physician model overtime to a multi-level skill mix of
consultant, registrar and medical interns. Many Turks and Caicos Islanders have
expressed interest in returning home for their medical internships. The
accreditation is the first step towards eventually accommodating these
requests. Patient safety is our number one priority and building local human
capacity remains a key strategic imperative.”
Minister of
Health, Agriculture, Sports and Human Services, Honorable Edwin Astwood stated:
“Congratulations to the Turks and Caicos Islands Hospital, InterHealth Canada
for its successful application to become a facility accredited by the
University of the West Indies to deliver medical internship programs. The
Ministry of Health, Agriculture, Sports and Human Services worked
collaboratively with Dr Braithwaite-Tennant and the hospital team to show case
our capacity to facilitate knowledge sharing and transfer. Academic medicine
challenges physicians to work as multi-disciplinary teams and promote a
comprehensive and multifaceted look at a patient’s condition and treatment
plan, ultimately helping the hospital team provide the best care
possible. The increased physician-patient ratios and the change in the
physician model by creating a tiered structure seeks to foster an environment
of sustainable learning and health system improvement.”
Minister of
Education, Youth, Culture, Social and Library Services, Honorable Karen
Malcolm stated: “We are excited and proud of the work IHC has done in
collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Department of Education to obtain
this accreditation status as a teaching hospital. This milestone achievement means
that our medical students can now do their internship here within the Turks and
Caicos Islands. We will continue to work with IHC and all stakeholders to make
this vision a reality.”
TCI Government Health Registrar, Dr Derrick Aarons stated: “The achievement of accreditation for the medical internship programme by InterHealth Canada with the support of the Turks and Caicos Islands Government (TCIG) is to be widely acclaimed! This matter is also timely as the TCIG is currently implementing three Councils to regulate the health professions within the country. The Medicine and Dentistry Professions Council will provide registration for suitably qualified medical interns to work under the direction and supervision of a specialist in the related field of medicine. This process should auger well for improved health care delivery to the citizens and residents of the Turks and Caicos Islands.”