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Greetings Faculty, Staff, and Fellow Students,
My name is Dwayne J. Blake, a third-year pharmacy student at the Faculty of Medical Sciences. I am honored to introduce myself as the newly elected President of the UWI Pharmacy Student Association (UWIPSA) for the academic year 2025–2026. As a proud student in the Faculty of Medical Sciences, I am deeply grateful for the trust my peers have placed in me to serve in this capacity. I step into this role not only with enthusiasm, but with an unwavering commitment to advocacy, inclusion, academic excellence, and the overall wellbeing of our pharmacy cohort.
As PSA President, I sit on the FMS Guild Committee as part of the Representative Cohort in the capacity of Pharmacy Department Representative. Additionally, I preside over the Pharmacy Student Association (PSA) Executive Committee. In this dual role, I serve as the primary liaison between the PSA executive body and the Pharmacy Department administration. Some of my responsibilities include ensuring that the views, concerns, and challenges faced by pharmacy students are accurately communicated to the appropriate personnel and addressed in a timely and effective manner.
I work to foster a collaborative environment where students feel empowered to voice their experiences and ideas. This involves organizing feedback sessions, relaying departmental updates, advocating for academic and welfare-related matters, and collaborating on initiatives that enhance student experience. Through regular engagement with both faculty and student leadership, I strive to bridge any gaps in communication and build a supportive, transparent, and responsive academic environment.
Our association has always stood as a pillar of representation and engagement for pharmacy students. As president, my mission is to strengthen the student voice within the faculty and beyond, ensuring their concerns are heard, acknowledged, and acted upon, foster professional and personal development through workshops, networking opportunities, and wellness initiatives tailored to the needs of aspiring pharmacists, enhance pharmacy student involvement by reviving school spirit through academic, social, and outreach events that build community and celebrate our shared identity and lastly to collaborate with clubs, societies, and sister faculties to amplify interdisciplinary learning and create a more connected UWI experience.
As we embrace this academic year, let me remind us all; you are more than your grades. In pharmacy, we often find ourselves balancing countless vials of responsibility. But don't forget to also pour into your joy, your passions, and your people. Whether it’s joining a club, attending a seminar, or just catching a sunset after lab; take up space, breathe deeply, and live fully.
If you have any ideas, concerns, or simply need someone to talk to, my inbox is always open; I genuinely want to hear from you. You can reach me via email at blakejvwayne@gmail.com , or connect with me on Instagram at @blakejerwayne. The UWI Pharmacy Student Association (PSA) meets every second Thursday from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m., with the location to be announced shortly. We encourage all pharmacy students to attend and be part of the conversation.
For any questions, comments, or queries related to the PSA or the UWI School of Pharmacy, feel free to contact us via email at uwimonapharmacyassc@gmail.com . You can also reach out to us on Instagram @uwi_psa. We look forward to connecting with you and representing your voice!
To every pharmacy student; past, present, and future, I stand with you, I celebrate you, and I vow to walk this journey with you, shoulder to shoulder. Let us build a legacy together that’s as potent as the medicines we will one day dispense.
With determination and heart,
Dwayne Blake
President
UWI Pharmacy Student Association (UWIPSA)
2025–2026
Dear Colleagues, Academia, Administrators, Ancillaries, and Alumni:
My name is Ronaldino P. Bennett, a fourth-year MBBS student and the Faculty of Medical Sciences Guild Representative-Elect for the 2025/2026 academic year; it pleases me to formally make your acquaintance. If you wish for further clarity on my office and its significance, please consult the powerpoint titled Understanding the FMS Guild Committee.
My tenure officially begins on June 1, 2025; however, I am open to meeting before then for discussions related to the FMS Guild Committee, including my manifesto, preferably virtually via Google Meets (although I'm easily accessible in person as most of my fourth-year rotations will be done at the UHWI and I frequent the FMSTRC quite a bit). With that being said, I wish to emphasize the essentiality of "club time" (approximates to Thursdays from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.) to the operations of not only the FMS Guild Committee but also to the seven (7) Student Associations. All students, both pre-clinical and clinical, need time outside of their academic scheduling to participate in extracurricular activities and thus it is key that "club time" is not infringed upon.Thus, I urge that exams, lectures, or other academic activities are not pursued during this time such that students have the leeway to partake in the extracurricular engagements that the UWI has to offer.
Furthermore, I would like to exhort that students are not compelled to adhere to regular academic programming in regard to UWI Sports Day, Public Holidays, or special circumstances (such as serious natural disasters). In due time, I'll ensure that the other FMS Guild Councillors make themselves known to you, and I also intend to supply a FMS Guild Council contact registry to be made available upon the commencement of our tenure on June 1, 2025.
Thank you for your time and consideration; We shall achieve great things together
On March 10, 2025, the Faculty of Medical Sciences celebrated the official inauguration of its newly renovated computer laboratories. The event saw the refurbished Hopwood Center, situated above the library, which is now equipped with 50 computers. Additionally, Labs 1 and 2 on the first floor of the faculty building have been enhanced with 135 new computers. During the ceremony, a donor board was also unveiled, recognizing all individuals who have supported this initiative. As medical education has shifted towards computer-based assessment, and also our faculty is continuing to upgrade itself constantly. This initiative was born out of the difficulties that the faculty experience every year to find adequate space to conduct final examinations, which are all computer-based, especially for the Mbbs program, which has over 200 final year students sitting exams. Medical education has advanced, and it has made it essential to integrate our technology into teaching. These newly renovated, labs with state-of-the-art computers will be used to enhance our teaching and learning through modern technology by investing in digital infrastructure the faculty will ensure that students have the necessary tools to excel in their studies and future careers.This achievement, however, would not have been possible without the significant monetary contributionof the faculties, administrators, the it professionals involved in the renovation of this lab. The collective effort has created a facility that we are all very proud of. Although these facilities are housed in the faculty of medical sciences, I wish to extend an invitation to all our faculty Deans on the campus to use the facilities if needed because when we were in need they were always willing to facilitate us, and we will do the same for them.
World Renowned Scientist Professor Robert Gallo to launch the
Global Virus Network Center in Jamaica
Faculty of Medical Sciences, the University of the West Indies
at the Kenneth Standard Lecture Theatre
on 19 February 2019
at 5:30 PM
Professor Robert Gallo, MD
The Homer & Martha Gudelsky Distinguished Professor in Medicine,
Professor of Microbiology and Immunology, C
Co-Founder & Director of the Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland and
Co-Founder and Scientific Director of the Global Virus Network
“Virus Epidemics: Reflections on the past and prospects for the future with emphasis on HIV/AIDS”
Professor Gallo who co-discovered HIV as the causative agent of AIDS will discuss viral epidemics of the 20th century and his personal experience with HIV, including reflections upon the past and lessons learned for the future. He will discuss the process of discovering a virus and linking the virus as the cause of a disease. Dr. Gallo will discuss the needs for combatting HIV/AIDS in the immediate future, including the development of a functional cure and the need for far greater testing and therapy as early and fast as possible to end the epidemic. He will also discuss the field of HIV vaccine development, including the Institute of Human Virology’s vaccine candidate while also sharing his thoughts on the field’s biggest challenges and the limitations facing all HIV vaccine candidates today. Dr. Gallo will share what HIV/AIDS research has accomplished for the broad field of medical research and public policy, and how we could do better. He will share why he co-founded the Global Virus Network (GVN) and the new collaboration between GVN, Jamaica and specifically the University of the West Indies.
Like all other major health institutions in the country, May Pen Hospital in Clarendon is struggling.
That is why St Andrade Sinclair, the hospital's chief executive officer, is happy that organisers of the Sagicor Sigma Corporate Run decided to include the Type C hospital in its group of beneficiaries this year.
The other beneficiaries are Diabetes Association of Jamaica, and Lupus Foundation of Jamaica. The run is scheduled for February 17.
“It is not too often that you see a lot of corporate bodies give back to people like us who really need it, especially health care,” Sinclair said at yesterday's Jamaica Observer Monday Exchange at the newspaper's Beechwood Avenue office in Kingston.
“Health care is woefully short when it comes to financing, and that is our big problem. According to the WHO (World Health Organization), the average amount that should be contributed from your GDP should be eight per cent, and currently the Government provides 5.9 per cent,” Sinclair said, adding that health care in the country “is under serious problems”
The work of Professor Shepherd, who just presented at the FMS Annual Research Conference - "The Cardiff Violence Prevention Model" has been adopted as policy in the United States.
The CDC wrote on their website - "More than half of violent crime in the United States is not reported to law enforcement, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. That means cities and communities lack a complete understanding of where violence occurs, which limits the ability to develop successful solutions.
The Cardiff Violence Prevention Model provides a way for communities to gain a clearer picture about where violence is occurring by combining and mapping both hospital and police data on violence.
But more than just an approach to map and understand violence, the Cardiff Model provides a straightforward framework for hospitals, law enforcement agencies, public health agencies, community groups, and others interested in violence prevention to work together and develop collaborative violence prevention strategies."
You could put these links on both the resources and news pages to the CDC website information, a toolkit, and related journal articles on the Cardiff Violence Prevention Model:
https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/fundedprograms/cardiffmodel/index.html
https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/fundedprograms/cardiffmodel/toolkit.html
https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/fundedprograms/cardiffmodel/journal.html
We are excited to present the second issue of MEDULINK, Newsletter of the Faculty of Medical Sciences, the University of the West Indies (FMS, UWI). I am honoured to be Editor for this publication and congratulate all who have contributed to its completion. And this issue comes on the heel of the inaugural October 2017 newsletter.
Download the newsletter here
Welcome! It is a great pleasure and an honour to announce the publication of the inaugural edition of ‘MeduLink’, a newsletter for the Faculty of Medical Sciences, The University of West Indies! We are delighted that the newsletter has finally come into being, and are proud of the editorial board and everyone involved in making this happen. The aim of the newsletter is to provide a forum for sharing of information about past, on-going or planned health sciences education activities at any of our UWI campuses or teaching sites. The editorial responsibility for production of Medulink is a shared one between the Centre for Medical Sciences Education (CMSE) and the Medical Education Units at each of the main Campus sites. We plan to issue the Newsletter triannually and are therefore looking forward to your contributions.
Our 7 faculties and 12 professional schools offer more than 200 programmes to some 18,000 graduate, undergraduate and continuing studies students.
The UWI, Mona ranks first in Jamaica among accredited tertiary-level programmes. In 2012, the University was again one of Jamaica’s Top 100 Employers.
