–ready to commission new campus

THE Texila American University-Guyana is thinking seriously about constructing a specialty hospital at its Providence, East Bank Demerara complex.

The university has given as the rationale behind the decision, Guyana’s growing popularity as the destination of choice for medical studies.

Texila U’s President, Mr Saju Bhaskar, told reporters Monday during a tour of its Providence campus that the institution is currently undertaking a market study for the planned specialty hospital project.
He said that the body is examining the prospects of the project, with catered plans for the provision of medical services such as neurology, urology and cancer treatments.

“Maybe it will take another six months for us to really start off,” Bhaskar said of its hospital plans, adding that seeing that the campus is only occupying the front portion of the complex, there is adequate space available for that project.

Bhaskar said, too, that the institution is planning to include in its curriculum business and Information Communication Technology (ICT) programmes. These two areas of study, he said, will be offered for part-time studies aside from the medical programme.

Currently, the institution is preparing to commission its Providence campus, construction of which cost in the vicinity of US$10M.

APPLICATIONS POURING IN
And according to Bhaskar, the investment is already showing signs of paying off, as applications have already begun to pour in from prospective candidates in such sister CARICOM countries as Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica.

During Monday’s tour, reporters were given a first-hand look at the facilities, and according to officials, the institution is just awaiting word from the authorities to officially commission the campus.

The campus is divided into two expansive blocks, the first of which comprises the registrar’s office, the finance department and the student and examination affairs unit. Executive offices, as well as classrooms are also located on that block.

On the second block, there are additional classrooms and laboratory facilities, among them those dedicated to the study of pathology, microbiology and bio-chemistry, all of which are fully equipped and cater for large-sized classrooms.

The institution also has in place a multimedia laboratory, which is equipped with 140 computer workstations for examination and assessment purposes, as well as a computerised e-library, where students have access to thousands of reference material Online.

VAST LIBRARY
During the tour, the media was also given the opportunity to view the campus’ vast library, which has the capacity to not only house hundreds of books, but to also accommodate

dozens of students wanting to use the facility to read.

According to the university, plans are also afoot to facilitate a student lounge and playground so as to add to the aesthetics of the campus.

The campus has a student capacity of 1500, and already there are 434 students on its roster, the majority of whom are locals. To date, there are quite a few foreign students from various countries enrolled in the medical programmes, including from India, Jamaica, Trinidad and Nigeria.

According to the university, Guyanese students are being offered partial scholarships to study at the university at 50% of the regular cost per year.

The university was established here in 2010, and offers medical programmes in such areas of study as the Doctor of Medicine (MD), Bachelor of Nursing (BSN/RN-BSN), and Bachelor of Pharmacy (BPharm).