Page 12 - UWI Quality Circle FlipBook

The UWI Quality Policy: Supporting Quality
Dr Bidyadhar Sa
Deputy Dean for
Quality Assurance and Accreditation, Faculty of Medical Sciences,
St Augustine Campus
ADeputy Dean for
Quality Assurance and Accreditation has been
assigned to the Faculty of Medical
Sciences (FMS), St Augustine. This
newly created role was in response
to an international thrust for quality in
medical education: clients need to know
that they are being treated by the best
trained practitioners, who have adhered to universal standards of patient care with great emphasis on ethical practice. This focus is much in line with the scope and purpose of a quality policy.
As Deputy Dean, I will assist the FMS Dean, Professor Terence Seemungal, in coordinating the faculty’s quality assurance and accreditation agenda for the five schools; this includes seven undergraduate programmes and more than thirty postgraduate programmes at the St Augustine FMS. These programmes involve traditional academic, continuing education and online platforms. I come to this assignment with a wealth of experience in quality issues, having involved myself in various quality assurance and accreditation exercises and events. I have assisted in the preparation of internal quality evaluation reports for the Caribbean Accreditation Authority for Education in Medicine and other Health Professions (CAAM-HP) for all Schools, in preparing accreditation reports for The Accreditation Council of Trinidad and Tobago (ACTT) and for the internal quality assurance review at the St Augustine Campus.
This position has come at a good time for FMS, St Augustine, as UWI is actively working on the extension of its accreditation for the School of Medicine across all the campuses through CAAM-HP.
Indeed, I am delighted to be part of creating a new quality culture that is set to upgrade accountability for educational outcomes within the Faculty of Medical Sciences at the St Augustine Campus. The position of Deputy Dean signals The University’s desire to intervene at the level of policy and practice for the benefit of our society. These are the kind of structures and mechanisims that fit well with the requirements of the UWI’s new Quality Policy.
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