The Antigua and Barbuda Medical Association is pleased to announce the establishment of a Memorandum of Understanding with the Oxford Chinese Economy Programme (‘OXCEP’) based at St Edmund Hall, University of Oxford. The MoU launches the OXCEP Caribbean Initiative in Antigua and Barbuda. The OXCEP is an apolitical organisation for academics and professionals who are independent lifelong learners.
Under this initiative, the OXCEP will offer full scholarships for three Antiguan and Barbudan doctors per year to attend its ongoing annual two-week Academic Medicine Course at Oxford, for a period of 5 years initially. Each scholarship will cover tuition fees, flight costs as well as board and lodging at St Edmund Hall during the Course. St Edmund Hall is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, affectionately known as Teddy Hall.
The 2024 Academic Medicine Course will take place at St Edmund Hall and the Oxford Martin School Lecture Theatre between 30th June and 13th July, under the theme of ‘Recent advances towards increasing the precision of medicine.’ The course will comprise of lectures and discussions on frontier topics and advanced issues in the field of precision medicine, plus related academic visits to research centres. The Course Director will be Professor Benjamin Fairfax, Professor of Cancer Immunogenetics at the Department of Oncology at the University of Oxford.
Chairman of the OXCEP and St Edmund Fellow of the Hall, Dr Frank Hwang, noted that the decision to select Antigua and Barbuda to launch the OXCEP Caribbean Initiative was influenced by High Commissioner Dr Karen-Mae Hill, who is herself a distinguished alumna of Oxford University where she studied as a Rhodes Scholar. Chairman Hwang stated, “It is the greatest honour and privilege of the OXCEP to work with our brothers and sisters in Antigua and Barbuda to establish the first base of the OXCEP Caribbean Initiative, for academic collaboration in medicine and professional development in business post pandemic.”
Minister of Health, the Honourable Sir Molwyn Joseph stated, “ This unique opportunity comes at a crucial time in the history of healthcare in Antigua and Barbuda. In the post pandemic era it is crucial for us to explore sustainable approaches where accessibility to health care and efficiency are prioritized, and where resilience and healthcare associated costs are optimized. Precision medicine is destined to transform healthcare given its ability to uniquely tailor the management offered based on individual patient characteristics”.
Sir Molwyn continued, “The Ministry of Health, Wellness, Social Transformation and the Environment therefore congratulates and stands ready to support the Medical Association of Antigua and Barbuda as it establishes this partnership; and extends profound gratitude to the OXCEP Caribbean Initiative organizers and High Commissioner Karen-Mae Hill. This initiative has the potential to not only enrich the medical experience of our health care practitioners but to ultimately benefit the citizens of and visitors to our twin island state.”
Speaking of the scholarship opportunity, Dr Regene Johnson, President of the Medical Association stated, “This is a great opportunity that we have been offered, and to be the first Caribbean country offered it, is momentous indeed. It allows for initially a total of up to 15 doctors from different specialities to be exposed to a new modality of medicine within their preferred field of study at a very prestigious university. Also allowing our doctors to meet with and network with many different scholars and heads of their field, all at no cost to them. We as the Medical Association of Antigua and Barbuda are very pleased assist with this
endeavour.”
The Medical Association will announce the scholarship opportunity among its members and each year will nominate up to 10 doctors annually for consideration from which three will be selected. The nominees will be experienced medical practitioners with a sound academic and professional background. The first nominees for 2024 will be selected by the end of May.
From 2025, the scholarship programme will be expanded to include full scholarships for Antiguan and Barbudan business executives for the one-week Economics, Public Policy and Management Course (EPPM) at Oxford. The EPPM will provide a unique opportunity for networking with the CEOs and owners of some of the largest, most successful business enterprises around the world.
High Commissioner Hill, Governor General Sir Rodney Williams and Lady Williams, visited St Edmund Hall last week and participated in a meeting with OXCEP Chair Dr Frank Hwang, ProVice Chancellor (for Innovation) of the University of Oxford Professor Chas Bountra, Academic Medicine Course Director Professor Ben Fairfax and OXCEP Administrative Director Helen Chen.
The OXCEP Caribbean Initiative will further build the technical capacity of the Antiguan and Barbudan medical fraternity, as well as open unparalleled networking opportunities for business professionals in the country.
