As part of its continued commitment to empower Belize through education, the University of Belize (UB) signed a first-of-its-kind cooperation agreement with the Autonomous University of Nicaragua – Managua (UNAN-Managua) with the mutual goal of developing Belize’s First National Medical School.
A collaborative effort between the two Universities, the Cooperation Agreement was signed Monday, December 2nd at the UB’s Belmopan Campus Conference Center by the President of the University of Belize, Professor Emeritus Clement Sankat and the Dean of the UNAN-Managua’s Faculty of Medical Science, Dr. Freddy Meynard Mejia.
As noted by Professor Sankat, “I am very proud of this collaboration with UNAN – Managua. It is a bold move for UB and revolutionary for Belize’s educational sector. Our National University is leveraging a fraternal relationship with UNAN-Managua to make an incredible difference for Belizean students who wish to pursue a career in Medicine and for the country itself.”
The Medical School at UB, under the Faculty of Health Science, which was approved by the Board of Trustees in August 2019, aims to meet the growing need for developing and training of local professionals and prospective students in the medical field, particularly Belizean trained doctors. This development will also seek to bolster health innovations, open new research pathways, and greatly enhance the exposure and involvement of our Faculty/Staff and Students in the positions of health care for Belizeans.
Professor Sankat further remarked, “this collaboration creates an unprecedented opportunity to integrate teaching and clinical practice in innovative ways unique to Belize that will ensure a medical education and patient outcomes that are aligned with today’s ever changing and demanding medical landscape.”
Dr. Mejia of UNAN-Managua also shared in this sentiment. He noted, “The partnership will give each of our Universities the ability to move to a continuum that changes who and what we are and how we serve and contribute to our communities, individually and as a region. In discussions with the University of Belize (UB), we discovered a high degree of alignment, and we are very excited to deepen our ties with them… We are going to have more ideas, produce more researches and improve our services and programs. The experiences will help each of us; ultimately creating an environment for effective value-based care and for improved training as well as the quality of Doctors we produce.”
The complete interview with Dr. Freddy Meynard Mejia, Dean of the Faculty of Medical Sciences, UNAN-Managua, will be made available on UB’s website: www.ub.edu.bz
The first activity under this agreement is phase one of pedagogical training of the Faculty from UB and Medical Practitioners of Belize for the teaching of medical students. This training began on December 3rd, 2019 and is being conducted by Dr. Silvia Mayela Bove Urbina, MD and Dr. Ismael Francisco Cordonero Madriz, MD (Faculty of Medical Sciences of UNAN-Managua).
