University Of The West Indies Research Articles

Family Medicine at the University of the West Indies: a model for the developing world

Context and background: To describe the Family Medicine (FM) postgraduate training programme at the University of the West Indies (UWI). Actions and activities: This paper was created through a review of documents, and discussions with past and present coordinators and key stakeholders at four campuses in the English-speaking Caribbean (ESC). Lessons learned: Despite intermittent setbacks the FM programme in the ESC has grown due to: (1) The presence of an umbrella institution in the UWI. (2) The role of the Caribbean College of Family Physicians providing a unifying force of advocacy and cooperation. (3) Collaboration of staff across four sites despite large distances, differing departmental and campus structures and financial models; and varying levels of local medical and public health support. (4) The use of a modular design for academic content, which means that students have comparable learning experiences. (5) Streamlining of exit examinations, thus sharing resources in the assessment process. (6) A strong presence of FM in the undergraduate curriculum. Conclusions: Despite a variety of timelines in programme development and funding mechanisms, over 150 physicians have graduated in FM in the past five years. We identify the unifying strategies and institutions which made this possible and present this model as an option for new programmes in the developing world.

Examinations and remediation actions for the mathematics problem in electrical engineering at The University of the West Indies

The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at The University of the West Indies' (UWI’) St Augustine Trinidad and Tobago Campus conducted a review and revision of its BSc mathematics programming in 2009. The review was framed to take account of strategic as well as operational imperatives of an accredited degree in the context of a number of resource and other constraints typical of small island developing states. Intake, content and delivery were examined and the findings were used to guide the revision exercise. Associated interventions were assessed five years later. This paper provides an account of the considerations and process for the review and revision exercises. It discusses student performance and other indicators before and after the interventions; and examines the new curriculum against fit for purpose criteria alongside programming in best in class institutions and UK-based accreditation reference points. The paper closes with recommendations for ongoing review and revision cycles applicable to the Department at the UWI and other similarly situated institutions.

John Stuart Garrow, MD, PhD, FRCP(E), FRCP (London) (1929-2016).

Dr. Garrow was born on April 19, 1929, in Dundee, Scotland. He studied at the Highgate School in London where his family moved. John obtained his Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery degree from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland in 1952. After graduation he continued his training in Jamaica where he became interested in problems of malnutrition and worked with Professor John Waterlow, a man he admired immensely. Dr. Garrow's first scientific post was as a member of the Medical Research Council External Staff at the Tropical Metabolism Research Unit at the University of the West Indies, Jamaica, where he published his first scientific paper in 1954 in the West Indian Medical Journal, followed by a number of articles measuring body composition in infants and children with malnutrition which lead to him receiving his MD in 1957. His single-authored article in Journal of Clinical Investigation in 1959 on the effect of protein depletion on protein synthesis and his method of removing the bias from measuring blood pressure, a device that “muddled” the zero value from one reading to the next, published in Lancet in 1963, were clear demonstrations of his scholarship and inventiveness. Dr. Garrow returned to the United Kingdom in 1957 to do his military service at the RAF Institute for Aviation Medicine in Farnborough. While there, he studied the effects of acceleration on antidiuretic hormone which resulted in a PhD from the University of St. Andrews in 1961. Because of his inventive skills, he was recruited by Professor Waterlow to participate in an expedition to the Andes Mountains to study altitude sickness, where he was successful in separating blood in the frozen environment. In 1969, Dr. Garrow was recruited to become head of the Nutrition Research Unit at the MRC Clinical Research Centre, Harrow, England. It was here that Dr. Garrow developed his international reputation in the study of energy balance. He designed and built both an indirect and a direct calorimeter which were used for many important studies. He was also a key adviser to the development of the metabolic chambers constructed at the NIH facilities in Phoenix, AZ, to allow measurement of energy expenditure in the Pima Indians who have the highest rate of diabetes in the U.S. He demonstrated the effectiveness of a simple “milk” diet for weight loss. He used “jaw wiring” to limit intake of food, and then used a nylon cord fastened round the waist to provide external feedback about fullness, since he was a strong believer in “external” regulation of food intake. His first and very well-written monograph titled Energy Balance and Obesity in Man was published in 1974 and provides a critical evaluation of the data available at that time. An equally important monograph Treat Obesity Seriously: A Clinical Manual was published in 1981 and presages the concept of obesity as a disease. During this time interval, Dr. Garrow conducted another experiment with himself as the subject. He stuffed himself to become obese and studied the consequence on weight loss using biopsies of his own muscles. This tradition of self-study is part of the medical tradition and one that Dr. Garrow used on several occasions. In 1987, Dr. Garrow was elected as the inaugural Rank Professor of Human Nutrition at the St. Bartholomew's Hospital Medical School in London and Consulting Physician at the hospital. During this 10-year interval, Dr. Garrow used his considerable “Socratic” teaching skills to help medical students learn the essentials of nutrition. He was a passionate advocate for “evidence-based” medicine and campaigned against fraudulent health claims. His final scholarly activity was as Editor of the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition from 1988 to 1999. This was an ideal position for Dr. Garrow since he could use his critical and objective mind to improve the quality of the publications that appeared in this journal. He has been active with HealthWatch (formerly the Campaign Against Health Fraud), where he was the chairman for three terms, from 1991 to 1993, 1997 to 1999, and 2003 to 2005. Dr. Garrow and his lifelong companion Katherine (née Thicknesse) Garrow met in Jamaica when she was there doing medical work as a young pediatrician. Katherine predeceased John in 2008, but he is survived by four children—Jennifer, Margaret, Diana, and Alan.

The Global Agenda: Perspectives from the Caribbean

This article presents the responses from frontline social work practitioners, administrators and educators in Trinidad to the recently published Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development. In acknowledging the significance of the Global Agenda, it became apparent that there was a need to solicit and channel the views of the local practitioners on this declaration. This article is based on a study carried out by the social work unit of the University of the West Indies. The study was intended to facilitate the articulation of the perceptions of key constituents about the Global Agenda and to critically analyse and respond to the Global Agenda within the context of a developing region. This article draws on the data that were collected from a focus group discussion among key constituents in the profession of social work in Trinidad. The findings support the Global Agenda as culturally relevant to the social realities facing Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean region at this time. The prevailing view was that notwithstanding the responsibility to institutionalise the currency of the profession to influence social policy development on critical human rights and social justice issues, country-specific mandates and jurisdictions must be maintained as the primary determinants of social work practice, education and policy development. The potential value, applicability and advancement of the four commitments put forward in the Global Agenda are also highlighted.

“It's All About How You Carry Yourself About”: How Medical Students Conceptualize Professionalism in Trinidad & Tobago

ABSTRACTPhenomenon: This paper concerns itself with the value system that informs and motivates medical students of the twenty-first century as distinct from earlier cohorts. It notes a shift from an era of altruism within which the medical professional was a ‘pillar of society’ always ‘on duty’ and always concerned foremost for the patient to an era in which he/she is just another member of the work force, subject to public scrutiny and criticism, to patient autonomy and to a self-serving ethos which characterizes the present age. Whilst concerns have been raised for a continuing and separate morality of medicine, young professionals in other studies have cited a range of characteristics including honesty, trustworthiness and respect alongside competence and medical skill. However, the notion of ‘performance’ has made a strong thrust into the literature, with students citing the putting on and taking off of dual personae as part of their complex identity in this present time. They are entitled to their own lives, to drop the act and just be themselves when off duty, picking it back up again with the duty call. Approach: The present study then investigated the views on this subject of two groups of medical students in Trinidad & Tobago in the Caribbean, one made up entirely of nationals and one including students from other parts of the Caribbean and the USA. They discussed the topic in focus groups of eight; their responses were then analysed thematically and subject to discourse analysis. Findings: The study revealed diverse attitudes with some embracing the ethical standards of a high calling that whilst others were concerned that too much was expected, that they had a right to break free and be themselves as long as they did not transgress too far from their expected roles. There were two distinct groups both concerned with ‘how’ they ’carried themselves about’ but this meant different things to each dependent on which of the two perspectives they embraced. As a whole, the study revealed an ongoing conflict of value systems with concern for patient welfare just remaining uppermost. Insights: As The University of the West Indies has now stepped into the field of medical professionalism actively it would hope to support students in resolving their conflicts more consciously in response to the range of philosophical stances which currently present themselves.

Predictors of Student Retention at The University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Using Astin's I-E-O Assessment Model

Predictors of Student Retention at The University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Using Astin's I-E-O Assessment Model

Organising Committee

Chairman Assoc. Prof. Gs. Dr. Abdul Rashid Mohamed ShariffTechnical Programme Gs. Dr. Dinesh SathyamoorthyFinance Normalina Jamaluddin Gs. Kumar Veliayudam Local Arrangement Gs. Dr. Ahmad Fikri Abdullah Gs. Dr. Farrah Melissa Muharam Siti Sarah EmranSponsorship and Exhibition Tn. Hj. Gs. Khairuddin Abd Rahman Gs. Mohd Hafiz Mohd Hazir Publicity and Website Gs. Samsuddin Ahmad Gs. Dr. Ruzinoor Che Mat Gs. Mohd Zakri Tarmidi Siti Nooradzah AdamSteering Committee Members Gs. Wan Abdul Hamid Shukri, Forestry Department Peninsular Malaysia (JPSM) Gs. Khairul Anam Musa, National Hydraulic Research Institute of Malaysia (NAHRIM) Zuhaidah Nordin, Malaysian Centre for Geospatial Data Infrastructure (MaCGDI)Maj. (PA) Syed Azam Shah, Malaysian Civil Defence Department (JPAM)Noor Azawani Wahap, National Space Agency (ANGKASA)Tn. Hj. Ismail Hj. Hashim, Department of Agriculture (DOA)Raja Aqma Raja Taihairan, Department of Agriculture (DOA)Ezuan Suhaidy Suhaimi, Department of Agriculture (DOA)International Program CommitteeDr Ramin Nourqolipour, Department of Survey, IranAssoc Prof Dr Yassine Charabi, Sultan Qaboos University, OmanAssoc Prof Dr Naohiko Kohtake, Keio University, JapanAssoc Prof Dr Wataru Takeuchi, University of Tokyo, JapanDr Ebrahim Jahanshiri, University of NottinghamDr Khosro Khorramnia, Ariss Smart Agriculture SolutionsDr. Bheshem Ramlal, University of The West Indies, Trinidad and TobagoDr. Raid Al-Tahir, University of New Brunswick, Canada

Microbiological profile of mycotic eye infections at a tertiary care institution in the Caribbean: A retrospective analysis

Background: This study identifies the aetiologial agents associated with mycotic eye disease in samples sent for fungal investigation, to the Department of Microbiology, University of the West Indies (UWI). Methods & Materials: A retrospective analysis of mycotic eye disease was conducted using microbiology records of all eye related specimens received in the mycology section from January 1998 to December 2014. The study population was comprised mainly of hospitalized patients, those seen in the ophthalmology clinics at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI), as well as those seen by private physicians. The frequency and distribution of the causative agents of fungal eye infections were ascertained. Results: Microbiology records showed that 312 samples were received from 254 patients during the 17 years being examined, with a clinical diagnosis of fungal eye disease. A total of 52 of these samples were positive and the microbiological diagnosis was established in 39 (15.4%) of these patients (26 males, 13 females). Filamentous fungi such as Aspergillus spp n = 17 (32%) and Fusarium spp n = 16 (31%) were the most frequently isolated. They were followed by Penicillium spp n = 5 (9%), Acremonium spp and Aureobasidium spp n = 3 each (6%), Curvalaria spp and Scopularopsis spp n = 2 each (4%), Cladosporium spp, Papulospira and Mucor spp n = 1 each (2%). No yeasts were identified. The ≥ 50 years age group had the most isolates (10/39). Conclusion: Filamentous fungi such as Aspergillus spp and Fusarium spp are the most common causative agents of fungal eye infections in this setting. Consideration should be given to the reviewing of the first line empiric agents used for treatment of clinically diagnosed fungal eye infections locally. Empiric agents to consider should include agents demonstrating high in-vivo activity against moulds. Topical natamycin should be considered as first line for cases of fungal keratitis while voriconazole should be considered in cases of endophthalmitis. Continued surveillance is necessary to identify the introduction of other agents e.g. yeasts such as Candida spp, commonly found in other locations.

Ringing Inside the Open Spaces of My Lungs, and: Neruda, Please Explain a Few Things

Ringing Inside the Open Spaces of My Lungs, and: Neruda, Please Explain a Few Things Gerardo Polanco (bio) RINGING INSIDE THE OPEN SPACES OF MY LUNGS The sound of my mother forcing a tired heart to beat one more time.The sound of my mother’s weeping forcing sanity despite thinning veins.The sound of my grandmother’s wail stuck half way out, like fishbone,badly chewed.The sound of my grandmother’s heart attacking itself.I hollow out my lungs andin ribcage built temples,singing hymns and mouthing prayersfor these womenbecause who if not me,who? I invite their pain,to ring inside the open spaces of my lungsand be made song.Who if not me will share bitter communion.I am my mother’s useless veins, forcing life to flow,I am my grandmother’s mourning veil, she refuses to take off,I am the lungs that will breathe their airWhen they, too tired of life,Would rather breathe inNothing but,flowers.Nothing butflowers.Nothing butflowers. [End Page 623] NERUDA, PLEASE EXPLAIN A FEW THINGS Our father, Neruda,who is in the heavens,who is rustling condor feathersflying over Andean mountain rangeand Tawantisuyu holy land of golden potatoes, in the ebb and flow of nameless men,and women, with soul of salt and wood,that populated towns with wine and oil,how many ashen colored feet, caked with earthhave used Neftali’s words as stepping stonesto reach Incan cosmic skies? Neruda, biblical fishermannets cast over shoulder,overflowing with fish and verse,do you still keep the nameless close?Does vision in your eyes and voice on your tonguestill speak to them of eternity?Do the nameless still people the earth? Do you still see foreign flieshovering over the sweetnessof the Central American causeway?Are the Banana Republicsfly free? Or does syrup still oozefrom the wounds of the earthcalling a new kind of fly? [End Page 624] Do you still find need to explain a few things?Like blood of children, you said, running down the streetslike blood of, well, children.Do you still think twice before metering metaphysicsof volcanoes erupting in poppy flowersbecause somewhere in one of the Four Regions,a woman cries, or a child carries a rifle,or, a man is swallowed by sea,or someone’s heart has been broken under starry night? Neruda,in your sepulchered space of scared earth,do ghosts cry?Can the dead feel the pains of the living?Do bones rumble when the earth quakes,shaken by unnatural forces? Our father,who rests in heights of Machu Picchu,is there still silence and leavened bread?Did your poems ever write themselvesas prophets of hope?Because the love and beautiful desireThey spoke about,persists.Because the pain and lasting anguishThey spoke about,persists. Is there any hope nestledamong the rubbles of Macho Picchu,or any other stone temple? [End Page 625] Gerardo Polanco GERARDO POLANCO was born in Belize, received his bachelor’s degree in English at the University of Belize, and completed his graduate work in Caribbean studies at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, Barbados. Copyright © 2016 Johns Hopkins University Press

Playing Mas on Campus: Dance and Public Demonstrations at the University of the West Indies, Trinidad

In Trinidad, the act of playing mas in Carnival is about transformation and the intersection of traditional characters with contemporary social issues. When the mas moves from the streets of Port of Spain to a university campus, dance and theatrical performance become a means for students to engage with social issues in public spaces. In February 2014, the performing arts students of the University of the West Indies St. Augustine campus played mas to raise awareness for several issues in the department. The students claimed a lack of adequate class space and proper consultation in developing these resources. The students carried handmade placards with slogans, danced, chanted, and sang as they lined the road to campus. Some students even performed ballet and modern dance sequences learned in class on the sidewalk to demonstrate the need for more rehearsal space. Later in that same month, students also producedThe Old Yard, part of the annual Trinidad Carnival celebration. The event featured “dramatic displays and exhibitions linked to cultural research within and outside of the University of the West Indies” (UWI St Augustine Campus 2014). Both performances utilized dance to communicate how socio-economic issues impacted daily life on campus and within a national performance community. By applying historical and ethnographic frameworks, I explore how the students use the act of playing mas as a means to negotiate their identity as performers and students in a university setting.

The Whole Complex of Feelings

The Whole Complex of Feelings Ravi Howard (bio) As we conducted the 2015 Callaloo Creative Writing Workshop at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, in Barbados, several university scholars and attendees mentioned the work of George Lamming. While his papers are housed at the university, there too was a wonderful spoken archive, conversations about the influence of the eighty-eight-year-old Barbadian writer and scholar. Lamming was a visiting professor in Africana studies and literary arts at Brown University, and he spent part of his early literary career in Great Britain. The 2015 CCWW moved through those same spaces, and our approach captured some of the ideas Lamming presented in his essay collection, The Sovereignty of the Imagination: The way we see, the way we hear, our nurtured sense of touch and smell, the whole complex of feelings which we call sensibility, is influenced by the particular features of the landscape that has been humanized by our work. The fiction of the participants sometimes showed the influence of place on characters as they reshaped landscapes and contemplated the changing idea of home. The interior landscapes were similarly built, using the “complexity of feeling” to shape a character’s imagination and feelings. The writing often sought a depth-of-field that balanced the interior and the physical world. Our discussions often focused on each writer’s style choices and personal approach. While writers often drew from shared histories and cultures, they recognized the role of imagination sovereignty and the rigor it requires. The result should be, as Lamming described, “the very flexible and varying ranges of language.” Both the USA and Barbados workshops encouraged a mixture of openness and questions as we considered the complexities of feeling and language used to measure them. Many writers will draw from history and a shared cultural memory, but those pieces are shaped through the rigors of process. We design the workshop to offer layers of questions to elevate that narrative shaping. Our approach shared space with Lamming’s ideas that challenge each author to build and sharpen the world through visual sharpness and layers of feeling. “This is the mark of cultural sovereignty—the free definition and articulation of the collective self, whatever the rigor of external constraints.” The multiple sites of the Callaloo Creative Writing Workshop engage writers in spaces that are home to some and new to others. But as Lamming’s ideas have suggested, the writer builds a homeland in the imagination and connects that space to their history, their present moment, or other connections. Just as Lamming considered home, his aesthetic, and cultural history, writing about his world and moving through it, the writers and their fiction show the various junctions and a compelling array of narrative sites and language. [End Page 612] Ravi Howard 2015 Callaloo Creative Writing Workshop Leader Ravi Howard RAVI HOWARD is author of two books of fiction, Driving the King (2015), and Like Trees, Walking (2007), a finalist for the Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award and winner of the coveted Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence (2008). For his fiction and nonfiction prose, he has been honored by the New Jersey Council on the Arts, the Hurston-Wright Foundation, Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, and the National Endowment for the Arts. His work on sports appeared on HBO, ESPN, Fox Sports 1, and NFL Network, and he was awarded a 2004 Sports Emmy for his work on HBO’s Inside the NFL. He has also published in the New York Times, Massachusetts Review, and Callaloo. This Montgomery, Alabama, native and Howard University graduate received the MFA degree in creative writing from the University of Virginia, where he served as the Editor-in-Chief of the literary magazine Meridian. He is an associate editor of Callaloo and teaches in the Callaloo Creative Writing Workshop (USA, UK, and Barbados). He lives in Atlanta, Georgia. Copyright © 2016 Johns Hopkins University Press

Towards an inpatient diabetes curriculum: medical student-generated aims, objectives and methods for ward-based learning of non-critical, non-perioperative inpatient diabetes care.

To create a summative document containing aims, objectives and methods that can be used for the training of healthcare professionals in inpatient diabetes care. A four-stage approach was introduced for the ward-based teaching of inpatient diabetes care at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill over the 2014-2015 academic year. Within this approach, 55 students (100%) submitted aims, objectives and methods to support two 2-h, ward-based sessions. This was guided by brief instructions and access to a copy of the Endocrine Society Clinical Practice Guideline on the management of non-critical, non-perioperative inpatient diabetes. Conceptual content analysis was used to convert submissions into a unifying document. Six themes emerged from students' submissions: diagnosis; assessment and investigation of diabetes and its complications; planning individualized care and pharmacological management; hypoglycaemia management, including severe hypoglycaemia; patient education; discharge planning; and multidisciplinary teamwork. Students were primarily interested in patient management and treatment using higher-level objectives and active learning methods. This study produced comprehensive, student-generated, and hence student-centred, aims, objectives and methods for inpatient diabetes care with objectives appropriately set for higher cognitive levels of learning. This material can be used to guide teaching or for further development into a curriculum. This is the first known publication of content that could be used in a ward-based inpatient diabetes curriculum.

An Exploratory Study Examining Barbadian Students' Knowledge and Awareness of Costs of University of the West Indies Education

This study explores Barbadian students' knowledge/awareness on various facets of costs associated with their University of the West Indies (UWI) education and student perceptions of State funded education. The study was conducted subsequent to the announcement of UWI tuition fees which came into effect in September 2014. Ninety-three Faculty of Social Sciences (FSS) students participated in the study. The research highlighted that:- (1) FSS students have serious gaps in knowledge regarding their UWI education costs, (2) many FSS students are motivated to work harder at their studies when studies are personally self-financed, (3) FSS students associate opportunity costs with lost income, lost time with family/friends, and lost leisure opportunities with their UWI studies, and (4) FSS students perceived that the Government of Barbados (GOBD) incurs an opportunity cost by financing UWI education. The paper concludes by discussing implications for policy and practice.

Key challenges and outcomes of piloting the STDM in the Caribbean

The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) was assisted by the Australian government's aid agency, AusAID, with technical input from UNHabitat and the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, in the developing of regional land policy guidelines that will address the most critical land issues being faced by the countries. A key aspect of this project was to evaluate pro-poor land tools that would provide comprehensive land administration and thus facilitate the equitable use and allocation of the limited land resource in the sub-region. This initiative provided for and included an opportunity for introducing the Social Tenure Domain Model (STDM) to support economic, social or environmental land policy goals. The individual member states of the OECS committed to participate in the project notwithstanding existing institutional shortcomings that may affect implementation.This paper reviews the major characteristics in land administration shared by most of the OECS countries that will affect the implementation of the STDM which is based on the LADM international standard ISO 19152:2012. It then presents a proposed STDM profile that will address the land issues common to most of the OECS states. Lastly, it presents the preliminary results of pilot testing of an implementation of the STDM, software version 0.9.5, developed by the Global Land Tool Network (GLTN). The pilot was conducted in Saint Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The primary aim was to examine the practical and social implications of implementing the recording process for informal tenures using the STDM software developed by the GLTN. It was found that some of the technical process went smoothly but middle and lower middle income groups are resistant to the idea of recognising informality because they perceive difficulties in differentiating between legitimate land tenure rights and illegal occupation and use, and because they anticipate impacts on their own legal tenure.

Library anxiety among university students

Library anxiety has been identified as a contributory factor to poor academic performance among students, and libraries are being challenged to give serious consideration to this phenomenon in order to develop strategies for reducing the problem. This study sought to determine if there were any indicators of the presence of library anxiety among a sample of 150 undergraduates in the faculty of Humanities and Education at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus and some of the factors contributing to this condition. The findings indicated the presence of library anxiety of short-term duration among the students due to both personal and institutional factors. Some personal factors included a lack of the relevant information literacy skills, absence of previous library experience, ignorance of the capability and extent of the library information retrieval systems and confusion when trying to find their way around the library. Institutional factors included the relatively large size of the library, the layout and organization of floors and collection, unavailability of computers and lack of appropriate signage. Recommendations were made to help alleviate the problems that appear to have triggered library anxiety.

Evaluation of the effectiveness of progressive disclosure questions as an assessment tool for knowledge and skills in a problem based learning setting among third year medical students at The University of The West Indies, Trinidad and Tobago.

BackgroundAt the University of the West Indies, Trinidad and Tobago, third year undergraduate teaching is a hybrid of problem-based learning (PBL) and didactic lectures. PBL discourages students from simply getting basic factual knowledge but encourages them to integrate these basic facts with clinical knowledge and skills. Recently progressive disclosure questions (PDQ) also known as modified essay questions (MEQs) were introduced as an assessment tool which is reported to be in keeping with the PBL philosophy.ObjectiveTo describe the effectiveness of the PDQ as an assessment tool in a course that integrates the sub-specialties of Anatomical Pathology, Chemical Pathology, Haematology, Immunology, Microbiology, Pharmacology and Public Health.MethodsA descriptive analysis of examination questions in PDQs, and the students’ performance in these examinations was performed for the academic years 2011–2012, 2012–2013, and 2013–2014 in one-third year course that integrates Anatomical Pathology, Chemical Pathology, Haematology, Immunology, Microbiology, Pharmacology and Public Health.ResultsThe PDQs reflected real life scenarios and were composed of questions of different levels of difficulty by Blooms’ Taxonomy, from basic recall through more difficult questions requiring analytical, interpretative and problem solving skills. The integrated PDQs in the years 2011–2012, 2012–2013, 2013–2014 respectively was 52.9, 52.5, 58 % simple recall of facts. By sub-specialty this ranged from 26.7 to 100 %, 18.8 to 70 %, and 23.1 to 100 % in the 3 years respectively. The rest required higher order cognitive skills. For some sub-specialties, students’ performance was better where the examination was mostly basic recall, and was poorer where there were more higher-order questions. The different sub-specialties had different percentages of contribution in the integrated examinations ranging from 4 % in Public health to 22.9 % in Anatomical Pathology.ConclusionThe PDQ asked students questions in an integrated fashion in keeping with the PBL process. More care should be taken to ensure appropriate questions are included in the examinations to assess higher order cognitive skills. However in an integrated course, some sub-specialties may not have content requiring higher cognitive level questions in certain clinical cases. More care should be taken in choosing clinical cases that integrate all the sub-specialties.

The Relationship between Socio-Demographics and Stress Levels, Stressors, and Coping Mechanisms among Undergraduate Students at a University in Barbados

This study sought to learn about stress experienced by students enrolled in the Faculty of Social Sciences (FSS) at the University of the West Indies (UWI) in Barbados. This research was primarily undertaken to help UWI administrators/academic staff understand and address student stress. One hundred and six FSS students responded to:- (1) student perceptions on whether summer school courses were less stressful compared to semester courses, (2) the mean stress level associated with summer and semester courses, (3) FSS student stressors, and (4) coping mechanisms used by FSS students to handle stressors. The research revealed a statistically significant difference in the mean stress levels that students experienced between summer and semester courses. The key stressors identified were: (i) amount of work in each course, (ii) group projects being a nightmare, (iii) studying and working full-time, (iv) stress associated with work impacting studies, and (v) taking too many courses per semester. The primary coping strategies used by FSS students were: (i) taking some quiet time and then resuming studies, (ii) praying for renewed strength, (iii) sleeping more, (iv) eating more, and (v) engaging in a hobby. Statistically significant results were observed on several of the key stressors and coping mechanisms. The paper concludes by discussing implications for policy and practice which can aid UWI administration/academic staff to craft strategies that can assist in reducing the amount of stress experienced by students.

The Nexus between Stakeholder Engagement and Instructional Quality: The Case of The UWI Open Campus’s Awareness and Professional Development Towards a Quality Support Framework

Abstract:With changes in the global economic landscape, universities are employing adjunct staff to instruct their online courses in new and expanding programs. Concomitantly, the growth of information and communication technology worldwide has facilitated the creation of classrooms without walls and universities without borders. The challenge for institutions is to create that nexus between programme quality and instructor engagement, especially where the instructors are just adjunct members of the staff. The University of the West Indies (UWI), through its virtual Open Campus (OC), has aligned its strategic objective of excellence to “…provide multiple, flexible paths for all constituencies to pursue tertiary education over their lifetime[i]” with the development of a framework that provides support for adjunct faculty members who are often “new to online”.This article is predicated on a quality framework established within the UWIOC at the start of the academic year 2012/13. It draws on the processes used with online educators while the university restructured its quality assurance (QA) procedures. I will discuss how a quality framework might affect instructional practices in distance education while broadening the understanding of what it means to facilitate focused student engagement. Data for the study will be generated through multiple methods: ethnographic observations; focus group interviews and document and artefact collection – reports on the use of two monitoring instruments. I will analyse key components of the OC quality structure; quality context issues and their contribution to success; and essential principles for ongoing assessment and planning to maintain the cycle.The discourse examines the possible effects of the changes, if any, through a practice-oriented perspective on quality amidst changes occurring within the UWI’s virtual campus. it also contemplates on how the process of increased monitoring and accountability works towards quality improvement. Key findings are presented with graphic and narrative arrangements supported by literature in the area of institutional quality.[i] UWI, Strategic Plan, 2012

Alighting on a Language of Caribbean Film: A Conversation with Yao Ramesar

ROBERT YAO RAMESAR IS AN EXPERIMENTAL FILMMAKER AND LECTURER in film at the University of the West Indies (UWI), St Augustine campus. On 14 April 2011, I sat down with him after one of his lectures at the Arcon II Studio, School of Education - the first home of the UWI St Augustine's BA in Film Programme. During this first interview, we talked about his film Sistagod (2006), discussing his sources of inspiration, his approach to filmmaking and his views on Trinidad and Tobago filmmaking.Nearly four years later, on 14 January 2015, a few months after the world premiere of Ramesar's latest film Haiti Bride (2014) at the 2014 Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival, I sat down once again with the filmmaker, now coordinator of the UWI's Film Programme, in its home, the Film Building on Carmody Street, St Augustine, where the film was first officially screened to a public audience. In this second interview, we discussed the latest stage of his filmmaking journey, the challenges he had to overcome while making Haiti Bride, the correlation between his films, and the reception of his films by the Trinidad and Tobago audience.Presented below is a synthesis of these two interviews. I have edited and reorganised some of the material thematically; however, the words are Ramesar's.Poon Chong: What was the inspiration behind Sistagod?Ramesar: Sistagod is a trilogy that [fore]tells the [coming] of a black female messiah. It came from a dream that I had in 1986 where a black woman came to me saying that she was the Messiah and that the world of humanity will come to an end and she would be the sole survivor - but she would be with child and therefore she was going to redeem the new world.Pretty much I thought about Eve and the original Bantu woman whose DNA survived, and scientists say that human-kind [sprang] from her particular loins and DNA - so she is the original Eve. So, I think that the future of the human race would emerge again from one sole black woman - and that is where the basis of Sistagod came from. What I did was that I woke up from that dream and I wrote for seventy-two hours straight [to complete the first draft of Sistagod].Poon Chong: Why did you wait ten years, 1986 to 2006, to make the film?Ramesar: The nature of the films that I make, which are not the typical Hollywood rip-offs and cheap imitations of our neo-colonialist masters, means that I do not attract much funding. So, it took me a long time to work in the trenches and build up some capital to finance it largely on my own.Poon Chong: What was your inspiration for Haiti Bride? How was the idea developed?Ramesar: The idea for Haiti Bride also came up in a dream. I was in Barbados making a Chinese co-production, when the earthquake struck Haiti. I was truly devastated, and became very concerned about the people that I knew there - were they alive? I felt truly horrible with the amount of death and destruction there. Haiti has had its back against the wall for a very long time - that is the price of liberation. The French kept them poor - and it is very rough for this to happen to them.I was in the middle of directing this co-production and was unable to move - I too felt stuck. Then I had a dream, where I saw this bride and groom in the ruins of this church, in their church clothes - and this eventually became the motif of Haiti Bride. So I came up with the story, where the earthquake happens on the day set for the wedding between Marie-Therese and Paul. The bride is late and everything comes down on the groom, who is standing there in the church.Poon Chong: Is there any link between Haiti Bride and Sistagod?Ramesar: There is no direct link between Haiti Bride and Sistagod. However, you would recognise that both films have very strong black female protagonists. Symbolically, Mari [Sistagod] is seen wearing a white baby doll costume, with references to almost being like a wedding dress, and the baby doll white mask, which is like the veil (see Figure 1). …

Through the Camera's Eye: The Making of The Harder They Come

In 2013, the University Archives, Mona, took over the collection of the Library of the Spoken Word originally housed by the university's Radio Education Unit. The collection dates back to the 1950s. Our Archive Gems feature seeks to showcase some of the gems in this collection.In this issue we present the edited transcript of an address delivered by Franklyn Chappie St Juste at the University of the West Indies, Mona, on 23 April 1999, as the seventh presentation in the Reggae Studies Unit Film Seminar Series.in youR MinD, whAt is it thAt we tALk ABout when we say film, what is it we talk about when we say cinema, what is it we talk about when we talk about the motion picture? . . . The cinema to some people is a little darkened place where they can go and sit in the back row and do things that they wouldn't do in bright light. There are other people who will go into that darkened chamber and use it as an escape route and fantasise. To some people the cinema is a style - a style of presenting a series of events in pictures to an audience or to a group of people that reflects a human condition . . . and to other people . . . those uninitiated, the motion picture is really TV - you sit in front of a little box and you're entertained and at any given moment you can get up and head off to the fridge, the bathroom, or to make a phone call.So what I'm going to do first of all is to put you right on the spot and take me off the spot. I'll just deal a little bit about the history of film in Jamaica because a lot of people have a misconception about what is happening. Film production really started in [19]51 with the establishment of the Jamaica Film Unit by the Government of Jamaica, under the direction of Martin Rennalls, and in actual fact they produced the first feature film . . . an hour-and-fifteenminutes-long film called Too Late. They were using a little technique - a little plot configuration - [comparing] the good with the bad . . . And they used that technique - two brothers, one careful and sensible and the other one reckless, and one make a whole lot of children and the other one just got married and have . . . only two. And that was the first feature film, the first time in Jamaica that we used synchronised sound, which meant that they sync the sound with the picture and you can actually speak and see your lips move in time with the sound. They followed that up with a film on education called Builders of the Nation in which they looked at the problem of teachers at that time - the height of migration to England - and they made this feature film where they wanted to keep the people here to stay in the schools rather than migrate to England and go and get jobs as firemen or bus drivers or something like that, and Builders of the Nation was seeking to sensitise the public and the teachers and to motivate the teachers to some kind of course of action. So those were two major feature productions.And we don't know about them - we forget very quickly - so we started doing a whole lot of films. The Jamaica Film Unit did lots of little films - fifteen minutes, half an hour. They examined the conditions within the society - if it is not teenage pregnancy, it is birth control, family planning . . . motivating farmers to stay on the land instead of going off to England. Again, old programmes that are now resurfacing in the form of RADA and that sort of thing, but way back in '56 and '57, they were doing . . . the same thing - Eat What We Grow and so on . . . long films, trying to motivate people, but they couldn't get a showing in the cinemas. They got one showing and that was it. And because the cinema exhibitors and distributors who were one and the same person felt that it was too long and he couldn't show that long film in the cinema and people wouldn't be interested - I don't know who told him that, but yet still, while he's telling us that he couldn't show a ten-minute reel about the growing of coffee in Jamaica, he was showing a one-hour documentary on Eisenhower's trip to India in addition to the feature programme. …