TCI Hospital Announces Educational Summer Programmes for 2022

#TurksandCaicos, June 25, 2022 – InterHealth Canada – Turks and Caicos Islands Hospital announce its annual educational summer Ready and Clinic Observership programmes which are scheduled to run in July 2022. Both programmes intend to raise awareness of healthcare careers and to help improve local capacity in the long term.

The Ready observership program offers third-form high schools, both public and private students, a behind-the-scenes look and in-depth knowledge about professions in health care delivered over five days. The program commences on Monday, July 11th to July 15th, 2022, with health care workers’ feature practical and theory presentations.

The Clinic Exploration program targets students pursuing healthcare-related courses at a tertiary level institution and ordinarily resides in the Turks and Caicos Islands. The 10-day program, from July 18th to July 29th, 2022, comprises onsite sessions that include a skills lab on phlebotomy, suturing, vital signs, manual handling, applying splints, and Heart Saver, and Basic Life Support training. A 20- minute presentation is required for participants at the conclusion of the programme.

“Our summer programme offers youngsters a great opportunity to gain meaningful experience in a Hospital setting”, said Acting Chief of Medical Services Dr. Sani Amatti.

“An opportunity to explore career opportunities in health and medicine. Participants will gain both theoretical knowledge and practical skills. They will engage with physicians and other healthcare associates from various medical disciplines within the organization while learning about the everyday aspects of their speciality areas”, added Dr Amatti.

Chief Executive Officer of the TCI Hospital, Dr Denise Braithwaite-Tennant, stated, “For the past nine years except for 2020 because of COVID-19, we have always looked forward to hosting a group of talented young people who are interested in the plethora of fields in health and medicine. We want to mentor our young people and motivate them to be innovative, creative, empathetic and caring, think critically, and be passionate while elevating their awareness about careers within the hospital. Human capital is the most important asset for healthcare and there remains a global shortage further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. During the COVID-19 pandemic similar to other hospitals, we have faced significant challenges recruiting health care workers, especially nurses. The World Health Organization estimates a projected shortfall of 18 million health workers by 2030, mostly in low- and lower-middle-income countries. It is therefore imperative that we continue to intentionally create opportunities for our young people to engage with us and promote careers in health care”.

Parents and students can visit our social media pages and website to register with a deadline for the programmes on July 4th, 2022. It would be best if students were vaccinated to participate in both programmes.

The Turks and Caicos Islands Hospital is accredited and became a licensed teaching facility on July 26th, 2021.