Expanded medical education at UG with new $1B medical college

– Intake of medical students expected to increase

The University of Guyana’s (UG) capacity to accommodate medical students will soon be significantly increased with the construction of a US$4.5 million (Over $1B GYD), College of Medical Sciences, formerly called the Faculty of Health Sciences, on its campus.

Minister of Health, Dr Frank Anthony, Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, UG’s Vice Chancellor, Prof. Paloma Mohamed-Martin and other officials participated in the sod turning ceremony for the modern facility on Friday afternoon.

The projected timeline of the project is 15 months. Construction will be carried out by Shandong Highspeed Dejian Group Company Ltd, and is expected to commence by December 1, 2023.  Meanwhile, the procurement process for the furnishing and equipping of the building will be facilitated before the end of the year. The multi-million-dollar facility is being funded by the Government of Guyana and the World Bank.

The vice chancellor in her remarks explained that every year, a large number of persons who are eligible, sometimes do not have the opportunity to pursue their studies due to lack of space in the old facility.

“We tell students in this country coming through the education system, if you work hard and you do well, we will find the place for you to do what you want to do … and its always heartbreaking to us to have to turn away large numbers of students who are eligible but we don’t have the space … this building will solve one of those problems and we are really thankful for that,” she expressed.

Purpose-built classrooms, anatomy rooms and modern, equipped laboratories will also help the university to maintain its accreditation and do more in this field.

Minister Anthony said as the health infrastructure is being expanded rapidly, the need for more medical professionals to complement the developments, is dire. 

“We need a lot more people trained and this facility obviously is going to help us to do that, but we also want to partner with the university so that we can have more research being done,” he stated.

Meanwhile, the education minister noted that this project has been on the cards for a long time which is why she is content with its realisation.

She also urged the contracting company to complete the project within its contractual deadline and specifications, as the government is seeking to train more medical personnel to meet the demand in every area.

“Because this is so very needed in our country, we’re going to have to hold you to that timeline and to the quality of work … You are now part of the Guyana development story. This is just not a building. This is part of our development story. It’s going to give opportunities to students but it’s also going to take back service to places that don’t have services … so we will take it very seriously,” Minister Manickchand underscored.