Emerging from COVID-19
NEW COURSES
As part of its agile response, The UWI developed a suite
of new programmes, prompted by the pandemic and
emerging needs. New undergraduate programmes in
health addressed the human resource capacity gaps within
regional health systems.
An Introduction to Critical Care Nursing
The UWI School of Nursing (UWISoN) at St. Augustine
hosted an introductory course in Critical Care Nursing for
participants from seven Caribbean countries—Antigua and
Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Guyana, Suriname,
and Trinidad and Tobago. A total of 194 nurses were trained
in this programme to support the capacity of nursing
personnel to respond to the intensive care needs of persons
with COVID-19.
BSc Human Nutrition and Dietetics
The BSc Human Nutrition and Dietetics, aimed to bridge
that vast gap and supply a cadre of health professionals
who could champion the role good nutrition plays in the
prevention and management of NCDs, was launched at
Cave Hill. Seven students completed the first academic
year of the programme. The programme has didactic
and practical components and runs over 3 ½ years for
full time students and 6 years for part time students.
It
aims to produce graduates who can work as dietitians in
diverse settings, e.g., hospitals, primary care clinics, schools,
institutions such as nursing homes, day care centres, prisons,
corporate wellness programmes, sports nutrition, food and
nutrition-related businesses, supermarkets, research, etc.
Bachelor of Health Sciences
A new Bachelor of Health Sciences (Health
Informatics concentration) facilitates the transition
to electronic record-keeping methods and
enhances electronic information storage that
enables robust decision-making and fosters
improved data analytics.
At Cave Hill, the postgraduate Diploma in
Paediatric Nursing was also launched in
September 2021 with the sponsorship to train 40
nurses over five years. In January 2022 the MSc
Nursing Administration and MSc Nursing Education
were expanded to St. Vincent in collaboration with
the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Community
College. Nine students were enrolled in the first
cohort. Students are receiving their classes online
with practicums supervised in collaboration with
the Community College.
The UWI/PAHO Certificate and Diploma in
Health Policy
These courses were developed with funding
from PAHO and is set to begin in the 2022–2023
academic year. It includes some modified
pre-existing PAHO courses and internship
opportunities for students are being provided
at PAHO offices. This programme development
demonstrates a high level of collaboration
between the University and a major international
health agency for the Americas.
