Medical students have reacted with concern to news that the government intends to shift the medical school at Mater Dei Hospital to a ‘health village’ developed at the site of St Luke’s Hospital in Gwardamangia.
The Malta Medical Students Association said that the idea caught them by surprise and noted that talk of relocating the medical school came even as the existing facility remained incomplete.
“While we appreciate and agree with the sentiment to increase the space available at Mater Dei Hospital for clinical use, this should not come at a cost to our, or any healthcare professional’s education, especially when considering that the promises that have been broken would have resulted in both an increase in available space, and an improvement in our standards of education,” the MMSA said.
Health Minister Jo Etienne Abela revealed on Saturday that the government is toying with the idea of shifting all non-clinical services provided at Mater Dei Hospital, including the medical school, to the Gwardamangia site as it seeks to maximise space at the national state hospital.
During Andrew Azzopardi's radio show on RTK103, Abela said the idea, which he acknowledged was still being discussed internally, is to turn the Gwardamangia area into a “health village”.
Medical students are currently educated at a medical school at Mater Dei Hospital which has been reduced in size over the years to provide more clinical space for the hospital. Students were promised a new ‘state-of-the-art’ 8,000 square metre facility in 2019, with the government saying works would be complete by the end of 2022.
But that deadline came and went and it remains unclear whether that facility will ever see the light of day, due to funding problems.
In a statement on Sunday, the MMSA noted that medical students appear to have been sidelined.
“Following years of obscurity, we are now faced with a plan which is still at an “embryonic stage”, with no indication of when this will be completed, or the quality and contents of the proposed school. All this, while the only place that was once earmarked for the development of a medical school near a commercial centre, is now being taken away for private development,” the association said.
The association said it fears that moving the medical school to Gwardamangia would negatively impact the quality of teaching, as students and lecturers would need to move between the hospital, University and medical school.
“Having a medical school in close proximity to University and Mater Dei, allows for lecturers, healthcare professionals and students to be closer together, integrating the organisation and scheduling of lectures, tutorials, and clinical rotations within a singular institution without the need for travel between the Msida Campus, Mater Dei and the new 'Health Village',” it said.
The association – which also said it is concerned about talk of increasing privatisation of healthcare – said it has asked the Health Minister for a meeting to further discuss the government’s plans.