Cayman hospital becomes medical training centre

(CNS): The Cayman Islands Health Services Authority (HSA) has announced that it now has the authority to assign credits from the Caribbean Association of Medical Councils (CAMC) to interns who practice at the Cayman Islands Hospital, establishing a full internship programme at the local hospital. The internship programme is a year-long and allows medical students to spend three months in the areas of internal medicine, general surgery, paediatrics and obstetrics & gynaecology.  The students that are currently participating in this programme are from the University of the West Indies and other regional Caribbean Universities. Medical Director Dr Delroy Jefferson said it was a highly anticipated programme.

“Medical interns are an integral part of the care team, internship allows them to use what they have learned in medical school as well as acquire clinical skills.  This internship programme will be a benefit to everyone,” the senior doctor stated in a release from the HSA.

The accreditation followed a CARICOM meeting back in 2010 between the Caucus of Ministers of Health, which charged the CAMC with the responsibility of accrediting hospitals for internship periods in CARICOM member states, in the hope of promoting regional registration of physicians so as to enhance the public's access to quality health care services in the region. Then Cayman officials recently hosted a CAMC accreditation team who visited for a three day assessment of the Cayman Islands Hospital, at the invitation of the Ministry of Health in conjunction with Dr Jefferson. To facilitate the assessment, a steering committee of doctors at the HSA, led by Jefferson, was formed.

Lizzette Yearwood, the CEO of the Health Services Authority said the HSA could not have received this high level accreditation without the commitment by the Cayman Islands Government, which she said, has given its full backing to the programme.

“Quite apart from the cost of hosting the CAMC accreditation team, the Ministry of Health has had to commit funds to secure four to six junior posts at the hospital as well as onsite on-call accommodation for four interns, for the hospital to be considered for CAMC accreditation,” she explained. “We are therefore extremely grateful to the Ministry for their vision in realising the benefits such that accreditation will bring to the hospital and its interns and their commitment to ensuring Cayman’s health services met the required standard.”

Yearwood added that the Cayman Islands Hospital had to satisfy stringent conditions as laid down by the CAMC Accreditation team before it was awarded accreditation.

“The accreditation review process is rigorous and the hospital was required to prove that it provides a good all-round service including a suitably supervised experience in all the major disciplines,” she said. . “The consultant staff were required to show that they provide direction to the students and ensure that only the highest standards of practice are maintained. The approval is based on such factors as the level of supervision that will be provided by supervisors, the teaching programme and facilities of the hospital as a good service institution as a whole.”

Osbourne Bodden, Minister Health, Sports, Youth and Culture said he is pleased to see this programme in place, as it provides a great learning experience for the medical students.

“Offering internationally recognised university credits from such a well-established body as the CAMC means we can provide valuable opportunities to support Caymanian interns. We believe that enhancing our health service offering in the Cayman Islands in this way only helps us to reach our goal of becoming a leading light in the provision of healthcare in the region,” the minister added

The Cayman Islands joins hospitals in Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Guyana and the Bahamas in providing CAMC credits for interns.