By Vishani Ragobeer

THE University of Guyana Learning Resource Centre, Faculty of Health Sciences, was yesterday the recipient of approximately US$30,000 in up-to-date medical journals and books from an alumnus of the institution and ‘son of the soil’, Dr. Keith Cummings.These books were donated to boost the faculty’s resources as they are all very recent publications, and the journals contain “highly reputable” documents, according to Dr. Ronald Aron, Director of the School of Medicine. The journals contain research from 2013 to 2016 and Dr. Aron noted that they will be of use to students as well as teachers.

Meanwhile, Dr. Cummings said that he made a herculean effort to secure the most recent journals so that the Guyanese students and teachers will be able to have access to the same updated information that is used by any US physician.

He noted that he endeavored to obtain “top leading journals that any US physician would use,” since it should be a priority to have high quality, evidence-based information through such publications.

A partnership with Up-To-Date, a software system that allows the user to access the latest research online, has also been established through the stewardship of Dr. Cummings.

This, he said, will allow Guyanese to gain the ability to access any information that top schools have. He noted also that he will be paying for this service for the next five years as another of his contributions to the University of Guyana.

He disclosed to the Guyana Chronicle that this will cost some US$7,000 a year. However, a few more technical matters need to be ironed out between the IT crew at UG and the software provider before the software can be integrated into the faculty’s system. He gave 1st September, 2016 as the projected date for the startup of this project.

In addition to his donation on Thursday, he informed the Guyana Chronicle that in another two and a half weeks, another shipment of books for the Research Centre worth some US$15,000 will be brought to his alma mater to aid in further developing the centre’s resources.

UG Registrar, Dr. Nigel Gravesande, described the donation as “seminal” since it is important to keep abreast with current medical developments.

And acting UG Librarian, Ms. Debra Lowe noted that the university is grateful for such donations and the Research Centre which was opened in 2016 has “lived primarily on donations.” She said also that this donation came in a timely manner as they are trying to connect the university’s main library to the Research Centre and training for journal entry to allow for easier access will commence shortly.

Remarks were also given by Dr. Carl Max Hanoman, Chairman of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation, Dr. Evin Cohen, a colleague of Dr. Keith Cummings and Dr. Emanuel Cummings, Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, who chaired the presentation. Dr. Keith Cummings’ mother and his proclaimed “biggest supporter”, Ms. Florence Walcott was also present at the presentation along with UG PRO, Ms. Paulette Paul.