MANAGER of the National AIDS Programme Secretariat (NAPS), Dr. Shanti Singh and Ms. Karen Gordon-Boyle, also a functionary in the sector, yesterday graduated from the University of the West Indies (UWI) Caribbean Health Leadership Institute (CHLI).
Both secured Master’s Degrees in Public Health following a post graduate course. Singh said the latest certification is different.
“It is a combination of public health and narrows in on leadership. As Programme Manager of NAPS, it was a good opportunity for me,” she said about the intense and comprehensive training.
“Some of what I have learnt has helped and has been put into practice with the aim of improving leadership and communication with people. It will help to determine future plans, shape vision and communicate it to persons I work with on all levels,” she added.
Gordon-Boyle, Prevention Director with Guyana HIV/AIDS Reduction and Prevention Project (GHARP II), echoed similar sentiments.
She and Singh undertook the one year course in collaboration with the University of North Carolina and supported by a cooperative agreement between the Centre for Disease Control (CDC), also in the United States (U.S.) and the CHLI.
They did monthly tutorials via the Internet that entailed interaction between the students and professor and two one week classroom sessions in a selected Caribbean country.