Labour Pains for All Saints | Local

Aug. 19, 2014

All Saints University School of Medicine has had many years of labour pains but both mom and baby seem to be healthy.

Speaking at the medical school's 22nd White Coat Ceremony on August 9, 2014 Minister of Education Peter St Jean said that despite the growth pains, the students were able to take the challenges they experienced at All Saints and turn them into opportunities.

"The past eight years symbolizes for All Saints University School of Medicine to what I consider to be growing pains. They have witnessed over these eight years, the tremendous challenges that you have faced and I believe that through every challenge you were able to create for All Saints University School of Medicine a real opportunity," said St Jean

He added: "individuals who will place their very life into your hand you need to recognize that with every passing day the challenges become even more demanding.

"The dynamism of your career you need to make every effort to keep in tune with the times and that is even more necessary today than it was before given the new and emerging challenges in the world of medicine.

"For you as medical professionals you must give us the answers to the problems humanity faces and so every individual looks at you as the Savior of humanity".

All Saints University was founded here in 2006 "by a group of dedicated medical and business professionals" states the off-shore medical school on its website www.allsaintsuniversity.org. All Saints said it was established "to provide students a better approach to educating the next generation of physicians at affordable fees".

"With its current population of about 700 medical students and over 100 graduates at various stages of their postgraduate or residency training, the university has been able to establish itself as a medical school to reckon with," All Saints states. "Today the university boasts of two campuses in Dominica and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. (We have) hundreds of students on the campuses and several hundreds more in clinical clerkships throughout the United States, Canada and around the world."

At the ceremony Minister St. Jean further told the students that the relationships they made at All Saints will aid them in facing the challenges ahead.

"As you launch into this leg of your career I believe that the relationships that you have forged here will assist you in dealing with the challenges that lie ahead. "I want to in a special way commend you for having endured because we all recognize leaving the safety and security the comfort of your home so many thousand miles across the Atlantic and coming into a new environment for you it was like launching into the unknown".

Furthermore, St Jean stated that "as you launch out into that leg of career it is important that you recognize the investments that have been made ensuring that you earn yourself that career that for years you have longed for".

At last week's ceremony, nineteen students received their white coats including two Dominican students, Tanya Joseph and Kenston Joseph. Tanya was also the recipient of the John Fabien Clinical Tuition Scholarship with a Grade Point Average (GPA) of 3.60.