MMSA External Meeting with Dr. Chris Fearne with regards to Bart's Medical School

MMSA External Meeting with Dr. Chris Fearne to voice medical students' concerns about the building of the Barts Medical School in Gozo – 19th November 2014 The Malta Medical Students' Association is pleased to welcome news which the Parliamentary Secretary for Health, Hon. Chris Fearne has shared with the MMSA following a meeting we requested to voice medical students' concerns about the building of the Barts Medical School in Gozo.

Mr. Fearne explained that the Gozo medical school will be developed in time to accomodate the number of new students who will be studying in Gozo, with developments which will seek to promote medical tourism and thus provide the students with the necessary admissions for them to study. In light of this, minimal use of Mater Dei's teaching facilities will be used for the new medical students studying in Gozo and the Parliamentary Secretary promised that this will not impinge on the teaching quality offered by the Maltese medical school.

With regards to the tutors employed by the new medical school, Mr. Fearne explained that careful consideration is being given to ensure that the staff currently providing lectures and tuition sessions at the University of Malta Medical School will not be torn between providing lectures for both medical schools, since this will impoverish the quality of the medical education provided.

He has also reiterated his will to ensure that for the coming years, enough posts are made available at the local Foundation Programme, to accomodate for the increase in medical students in the course. Posts in this 2-year training programme will thus be increased in the coming year and negotiations with the UK will also ensure that the local Foundation Programme also expands to accomodate any medical students who graduate from Barts Medical School and who wish to pursue their post-graduate studies on the island.

In light of this, the MMSA, through its Standing Committee on Medical Education, has launched an internal survey, where in the past weeks all medical students were invited to voice their opinion on the quality of their medical education and on whether they wish to pursue their post-graduate studies locally or abroad.

The survey concluded that 68% of Maltese clinical students wish to continue their foundation studies here in Malta, compared with 59% at pre-clinical level. With regards to suggestions relating to the curriculum, 74% of clinical students think that they would benefit more if clinical attachments and tutorials were organised for smaller groups, since being such large groups is affecting the quality of their medical education. Pre-clinical students (77%) also expressed a need for smaller discussion groups.

The survey thus concluded that students believe that the hospital environment is ideal for them to learn the necessary skills however efforts need to be done to compensate for the large group of students studying in this hospital.

Finally, 94% of all students think that knowing Maltese is of an advantage to communicate with patients in Mater Dei Hospital.