Blogging on a hammock...

Two weeks after the end of the exams, and yours truly has exploited this time to the fullest by mostly being asleep. "Ah, the joys of summer holiday !", I hear you say.

Sadly, this debauchery is soon going to be over for me, so I decided to change my frame of mind by dedicating some time to my -disappointingly neglected- blog.

There are many interesting topics that I could write about, like the political situation in Zimbabwe or the recent increase in utility bill surcharge. But this blog is not about politics, be they national or international, so I think I'm going to stick with something that my readers are more familiar with : the RCSI saga (part MCMLXXXVIII).

In the beginning of the academic year, I would hear something new about that proposal every week. But this was no longer the case. After the RCSI conference in March, there was complete radio silence, which really made me wonder how (and if) things were progressing.

But then, on the 20th of June, I came across this, a letter to the Times in which Dr.F.Portelli more or less advises the government to go ahead with the RCSI proposal, and exclude the current faculty of the Malta Medical School from any involvement in postgraduate medical training.

I must confess that this letter puzzled me. I knew Dr.Portelli as the man behind St.Philip's hospital, a surgeon-businessman who wouldn't normally want to be involved in the whole government-RCSI-UoM-SGUL game. So what could have turned him into such a zealous supporter of the RCSI proposal ? Call me a cynic, but I don't think it is down to a genuine concern for the future of junior doctors...

Perhaps a partnership of some sort between St.Philip's and the RCSI is on the cards ? And why not ? St.Philip's would have a (much needed, according to some) financial benefit and the RCSI will be able to start their graduate programme without any need for access to Mater Dei. Even I would be happy, since we (the UoM medical students) will be able to keep Mater Dei to ourselves !

Either way, I expect more news from RCSI to emerge in the following months... They might have slightly altered their short-term target from offering a state-of-the-art, world-class medical course to opening a shonky office in Valletta, but at least it's a beginning.

In the meanwhile, I read here that the UoM-SGUL agreement is to be signed on July 17th, with the relevant course starting January 2009. As I've said in the past, I am concerned about the potential over-crowding of MDH that the additional four-year students will cause, so I'm looking forward to the university releasing information on how they plan to avoid this problem.

Another one of my concerns was to what extent the university is willing to take advantage of its partnership with SGUL on a postgraduate level. Last Tuesday, I came across this, a letter to the Times in which Prof.G.LaFerla attempts -amongst others- to clarify how the Malta Medical School is planning to improve the current situation in postgraduate medical training. The letter is an interesting read, and without doubt very promising.

Now all that remains is to see things put to practice ! Who knows, perhaps many of us will then be tempted to stop browsing through this website...

And now...

...holiday !!!

Unless, of course, you are anxiously waiting for your exam results to make sure you don't have a resit. In that case your summer might be slightly ruined by a decision that the (...student-centred and caring...) people of UMASA took a couple of weeks ago.

If you've been buried under a ton of books until recently, and have no idea what this is about, you can check this for the lowdown. As per usual, students aren't really doing much about it. You may check this and this for more, but be warned that the material linked to may be unsuitable for minors as it includes some shockingly inefficient student reactions.

UPDATE : The industrial action is now suspended !!! Enjoy your holiday (...or resits...), everyone !

Light at the end of the tunnel ?

If you haven't read this already, take a look here !

Is there light at the end of the tunnel, or is it just some bastard with a torch, bringing us more work ? Answers on a postcard ;-)

The June exams are coming...

...and therefore what better thing to do than to enjoy some brilliant med-related cartoons :




Check Scutmonkey for more wonderfully silly cartoons like the above.

Procrastination...

Specially devoted to the people who couldn't really study today... Or yesterday... Or the day before... Or......

UoM and SGUL sign memorandum of understanding !

Last Friday, I was forwarded a document by an anonymous reader (whom I have to thank deeply for his contribution), according to which a memorandum of understanding had been signed between the University of Malta and St.George's.

This morning, I was able to verify the authenticity of that document (by being shown an original hard copy), so I can now post it here for the benefit of all the medical students who -like myself- are interested in the course and outcome of this collaboration :



19th February 2008

Dear Colleagues,

Further to my last letter, I write to inform you about the recent visit by delegates from St. George’s, University of London (SGUL).

As a result of this visit the Rector of the University of Malta has signed a Memorandum of Understanding between the University of Malta and St. George’s, University of London. The MOU regulates discussions between the two parties with an eye to signing an Agreement by late Spring in order to launch an international four-year, graduate entry programme in 2009/2010 leading to a registerable medical qualification. It is hoped that this will be the first step in a long term partnership.

During their visit the visitors from St. George's met with various officials in Malta including the Prime Minister , the Minister for Education, Youth and Employment, the Minister of Health , Care of the Elderly and Community Care as well as the Deputy Leader of the Malta Labour Party and the shadow Minister for Education.

In addition they met with HE Mr Nicholas Archer, British High Commissioner, and senior members of the University and National Commission for Higher Education.

A visit to Mater Dei Hospital was arranged for the visitors to see the hospital and medical school as well as meet some senior members of the medical profession who were on duty there.

The visitors discussed a number of areas of possible cooperation including the establishment of a graduate entry medical education programme for international students alongside the existing University of Malta course. St. George’s has been successfully running graduate and undergraduate entry medical education programmes together for over seven years. SGUL was the first medical school in the British Isles to offer a Graduate Entry Programme. Its next intake will be 98 students. SGUL is the only independently-governed medical school in England. It is a premier educational establishment. St. George's gained an excellent score of 23 out of 24 in the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) inspection of medicine - the highest score of any London Medical School.

Further discussions are taking place and it is hoped that the proposed graduate entry programme would only be the start of a long-term relationship between the University of Malta and SGUL that would include postgraduate education.

SGUL offers a wide range of postgraduate programmes at certificate, diploma, masters and doctoral level that could complement the University of Malta's own postgraduate programmes. SGUL has approximately 5500 students, made up broadly of 1300 undergraduate medicine and bioscience students; 3700 health professions undergraduates in the joint faculty; 300 taught post-graduates, and 200 research students. A number of postgraduate qualifications are offered in conjunction with Kingston University in the Joint Faculty of Health & Social Care Science.

Future collaboration could also include combined research projects with joint applications for international research grants between the University of Malta and St. George's, University of London. SGUL is a major international research centre. SGUL came second in a Guardian (2007) newspaper league table of research papers and their impact, published in November 2007. Figures show that SGUL research papers had twice as much impact as the world average in terms of how often they were cited in peer-reviewed journals. SGUL beat Oxford and Cambridge, Imperial College London and University College London. In the last Research Assessment Exercise (2001) St George's was rated as conducting research of at least national excellence in the majority of its activities (with cardiovascular and respiratory epidemiology receiving flagged status). Work in the area of pre-clinical studies was considered to be of international excellence.

Research is also strong in basic medical sciences, particularly cell biology and molecular genetics. St George's research continues to be influential in the fields of medical epidemiology.

The research base at SGUL is further strengthened through its close proximity and interaction with St George's Healthcare NHS Trust and other hospitals.

These relationships provide unique opportunities for translational research that links basic science to clinical care.

Total research income was about €30 million last year and SGUL has recently been awarded $21 million as part of the Grand Challenges in Global Health Initiative. There are about 150 active researchers in permanent positions, with about 200 research assistants. There are 170 MPhil/PhD students and 120 MD/MS/MD(Res) students studying both in full-time and part-time mode in all divisions. There are a number of companies (including pharmaceutical companies) on site, that work collaboratively with researchers in SGUL. These include Antisoma, Onyvax, Richmond Pharmacology, Helperby Therapeutics and Phytofusion.

Finally, cooperation could extend to George's Healthcare NHS Trust including interchanges between students, postgraduates and hospital staff. SGUL shares its site with St George's Hospital in Tooting, one of the biggest NHS hospitals in the United Kingdom.

St George's Healthcare NHS Trust employs over 5,000 staff with 2,500 nurses and 800 physicians with over 1000 beds and trains over 4,000 healthcare professionals. The annual budget of the Trust is close to €500 million. The Trust provides the services of a district general hospital (secondary care) and specialist (tertiary care) hospital services from three sites.

The Rector has stated that this is a further step in the university's strategy of partnering with prestigious international educational institutions and would help realise the vision of Malta as an international preferred provider of quality higher education, the "Teacher of the Mediterranean". He has said that these partnerships enhance the University of Malta as well as the country as a whole.

I hope that you share my enthusiasm for such a joint venture which would be a true partnership between two. equals where the responsibilities and benefits would be shared. This is unlike the franchises previously proposed by other institutions. I augur that such a partnership would open opportunities to all members of the faculty as well as all the other doctors working at Mater Dei Hospital and beyond. I envisage that this would be a superb way of improving the currently high standards achieved as all programmes both offered locally as well as the one offered as a result of the partnership would run in parallel and not in direct competition.

I am calling an Extraordinary Meeting of the Faculty Board to be held on Tuesday 4th March 2008 at 11 am at the University of Malta Medical School Board Room at Mater Dei Hospital. The subject of the Future of the Medical School will be discussed as the only item on the Agenda. I look forward to seeing Faculty members at that meeting.

I shall keep you informed of progress with regards to the discussions with St. George's.

Yours sincerely,
Professor G LaFerla


I was very happy to read that the co-operation will not just be a money-making venture but will also cater for the improvement of the normal five-year UoM medical course and for the establishment of urgently needed postgraduate medical training programmes.

The only thing I am still wondering about is what measures the faculty is planning to take to avoid an over-crowding of MDH by medical students. I understand that it might be too early for that sort of detail to be publicised, but it would surely make me feel better if MMSA was to raise that issue in the upcoming faculty board meeting...

The medical student of today !

The modern student, we gather, is bored by the lectures he has to attend, and a genuine interest in his work, or a real scientific curiosity, is rare. Nevertheless, having the fear of the examiner before his eyes, he reads hard, but the whole system of examinations is "soul-killing, destroying originality, destroying continuity, and bestowing the prize on the man who patiently `swots' up his subjects and mechanically gives forth the answers he has been told to give." That lectures often cause boredom is true enough, but that is not altogether the fault of the student. That the passing of examinations is to a considerable extent a mechanical art cannot be denied, but that is mainly the fault not of the system, but of the way in which it is too often applied. As long as mere book knowledge is accepted as a passport by those who guard the portals of medicine, so long will cramming continue.


What the above excerpt describes is surprisingly familiar, don't you find ? And what is even more surprising is its origin : BMJ 1905;ii:971 !!!

Could it be that today's medical education in Malta is not all that different from what medical education was in the UK more than a century ago ?

Answers on a postcard or, rather, a blog comment !

Good news, at last ?

Hello and welcome to another very late update of my blog... But I'm sure you will excuse the delay, because I have some very fresh and very important news. So important that I've broken my self-imposed computer use ban to post them... Read on !

A few days ago, I heard something on the grapevine about an imminent visit to our university by people from St.George's... Great, I thought to myself, after RCSI there's now yet another bloody medical school franchise that wants to strip UoM Medical School of its good lecturers and take over Mater Dei...

So I started asking around, to see what's going on (..again !).

One of the people I talked to was kind enough to show me a document circulated to all medical staff and signed by our dean. What this document said is that the UoM Medical School and the SGUL Medical School are looking into the possibility of setting up a four-year graduate-entry medical course together.

I don't remember the exact text, but it was pointed out that the partnership would be equal and that the new four-year programme will run in harmony with the existing UoM five-year programme. So the whole thing is not a franchise, and the UoM would actually be gaining financially from it ! Sounds better than the RCSI proposal to me...

All I want to know now is what they are planning to do to avoid congestion at Mater Dei, and how much time our consultants will have to devote to the four-year course. If they solve those two issues, then the news of this partnership are very good news indeed.

If anybody knows more, please share your information ! I'll keep asking around and will let you know what I find out...