Medical students are still in the dark over how clinical resources at Mater Dei Hospital will be utilised once the Barts Medical and Dental School is set up.
“We don’t have an objection to another medical school opening in Malta and Gozo, at least in principle. It is the lack of transparency, manner of introduction and the unfeasible nature of these plans that is of grave concern to us,” Alexander Clayman, student representative on the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery board, told this newspaper.
The government announced last year an agreement between the health ministry and the Queen Mary University of London for the opening of a medical school in Malta in a bid to brand the island internationally within the medical sector.
Mr Clayman, a fourth-year medical student, said that as student representative he had been seeking information on what the impact of the new medical would be on University of Malta students. The students’ concerns stem from information given by Barts Dean of Education Prof. Anthony Warrens, who during a meeting told Mr Clayman, the Malta Medical Students’ Association, MMSA, and the students’ council KSU, that the medical school had entered into a contract with the government which would grant them access to Mater Dei and all clinical resources.
Subsequently, the MMSA, KSU and Mr Clayman wrote to Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, Health Minister Konrad Mizzi, Education Minister Evarist Bartolo and Health Parliamentary Secretary Chris Fearne, requesting more information.
So far, he said, they have only been met with vague answers.
“It concerns me that a for-profit organisation has a contract with the government promising it access to Mater Dei’s clinical resources, when our own university does not have such a contract,” Mr Clayman said.
The contract, he said, has been kept secret and none of the stakeholders, be it the university, its students, MMSA, KSU or the faculty board had been consulted concerning the matter.
The first Barts students would begin their studies in 2017, with the first clinical placements taking place in 2019. Each group would be made up of some 60 students.
Mr Clayman said capacity at the hospital was already a problem, with students and consultants working at a ratio of seven to one. Having more students sharing the same resources would only serve to hinder students’ learning abilities.
“There is simply not enough space for more medical students at Mater Dei. The University of Malta acknowledged and acted upon this by changing its entry requirements to include Medical Maltese in an attempt to decrease the number of non-Maltese-speaking EU students applying.”
During a meeting with Mr Fearne held earlier this month, the students were told that there would be an increase of 15 consultants and while they welcomed this increase, they did not deem this as a reasonable solution.