Education Minister Louis Galea and Health Minister Louis Deguara announced yesterday that talks with the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) to establish a centre in Malta offering a Graduate Entry Programme (GEP) in Medicine, are at an advanced stage.
RCSI deputy chief executive Terry McWade, RCSI professor Cathal Kelly and University of Malta medicine faculty lecturer Mark Brincat were also present at the press conference held to announce the subject.
Dr Galea explained that the establishment of the RSCI programme was expected to open as early as the next academic year.
The RCSI held discussions with University rector Professor Juanito Camilleri, pro rectors, Prof. Godfrey Laferla and the Medicine and Surgery faculty dean, where the two sides explored the chances of collaboration in the fields of research, postgraduate studies and training.
It was important for Malta’s health sector not only to provide an excellent local service but also to attract foreign institutions and foreign investment, Dr Galea said.
Minister Deguara said that such a partnership would provide new opportunities for the medical profession and for students both in Malta and overseas, at undergraduate level as well as in postgraduate training and research.
It would also help to limit the number of doctors leaving the island.
Dr Deguara said the RCSI provided state-of-the-art teaching facilities and that it had a structured training programme for students who were leaving Malta to follow a medical course abroad.
The RCSI has active colleges in Malaysia, Bahrain and Dubai and the centre in Malta would be the first European campus outside Dublin.
Dr McWade explained that what attracted RCSI to Malta was the long tradition of quality medical care and its excellent reputation for medical education.
The four-year GEP in medicine which RCSI is proposing, should also attract students world wide to study in Malta as it integrates the biomedical and clinical sciences and offers early clinical experience with hospital attachments, Dr McWade added.