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...