By Rachael Roberts
The UMHS St. Kitts Campus welcomed delegates from seven clinical affiliates, clinical site coordinators, and representatives from the Kaplan Medical team, along with UMHS Clinical Chiefs, faculty and staff from the UMHS South Portland, Maine campus and UMHS senior administration officials to the 2019 Academic Leadership Conference, held March 20 to 22, 2019.
The purpose of the conference was to bring together UMHS officials, faculty, staff and clinical partners, and through an interactive program, facilitate discussions identifying the challenges facing UMHS students on their “Road to Residency”.
UMHS Provost Dr. David Graham and President Warren Ross opened the conference, welcoming guests, and gave a brief history of UMHS and the Caribbean medical schools phenomenon, followed by an overview of the University’s philosophy and initiatives in place to help our students achieve success as medical physicians.
Presentations by the Kaplan Medical team, Introduction to Clinical Medicine and Introduction to Clinical Medicine II Directors (Dr. Mohan Kumar and Dr. Patrice Thibodeau, respectively) and Clinical Dean, Dr. George Shade, spoke to the efforts made to provide a continuum of clinical exposure in the Basic Sciences curriculum and the Maine Campus pre-clinical programs.
Small group break-out sessions were conducted on Thursday and Friday. Facilitators collaborated with other attendees in discussing interests vital to the academic program in round-table discussions. Recommendations following a full-group discussion were entered into meeting notes for further consideration. Topics discussed included the following:
- Integration of Basic Science and Clinical Science curriculum
- What can be learned from US, UK & other Caribbean medical schools?
- Hospitals’ Role in preparing students for USMLE Step 2 CS & CK
- Hospital expectations of UMHS students
- Ensuring comparability between clinical sites
- Improving students’ experience at clinical sites
Over the three days of the conference, guests were treated to a lively social program, a tour of the state-of-the-art campus facilities by President Ross and VP of Facilities, Daniel Vitalo, and presentations by Basic Sciences faculty members. The conference attendees were joined by members of the Basic Sciences faculty and representatives from the Student Government Association for small group discussions and a culminating cookout at Reggae Beach.
President Warren Ross (center) in the Anatomy Lab at UMHS during the Academic Leadership Conference. Photo: Rachael Roberts
SIM Lab demonstration. Photo: Rachael Roberts
President Warren Ross took participants on a tour of the state-of-the-art UMHS campus. Photo: Rachael Roberts
Conference dinner at Marshall’s Restaurant. Photo: Rachael Roberts
President Ross with Ponce School of Medicine Associate Dean for Medical Education, Dr. Georgina Aguirre (far right). Photo: Rachael Roberts
(Top photo) Lobster Fest with conference attendees and Student Government Association representatives at Reggae Beach. Photo: Rachael Roberts
About UMHS:
Built in the tradition of the best US universities, the University of Medicine and Health Sciences focuses on individual student attention, maintaining small class sizes and recruiting high-quality faculty. We call this unique approach, “personalized medical education,” and it’s what has led to our unprecedented 96% student retention rate, and outstanding residency placements across the US and Canada.
Rachael Roberts is UMHS Maine Campus Administrative Manager & IT Support Specialist.
