Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/679878
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 15 MAY 2016 3 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Barts said that the honorary appointments would be promoted to clinical sen- ior lecture, clinical reader or clini- cal professor "as the staff contrib- ute more" – an indication that the school is after ambitious medical professionals seeking a foothold in the medical programme. A senior medical consultant who is privy to the agreement with the health ministry and Barts, which is part of Queen Mary, University of London (QMUL), said that Malta's hospital caseload will be "too small to cater for two universities". Effectively, Barts will create a new medical school for paying stu- dents who need access to Mater Dei Hospital's clinical resources – surgery and patient ward rounds – to be able to complete their degree course. While Barts will be charging €35,000 every year to each of the 60 students who will form the an- nual intake, Mater Dei's consult- ants are expected to make room for this cohort of students on top of some 445 student-doctors from the University of Malta's medical school. The main bulk of clinical teach- ing will not begin until 2019, when the first 60 students complete their third year and start clinical prac- tice. By 2021, that number will have grown to 180 Barts students at any given year wanting access to clinical practice. So while Barts will be raking in €10 million each year when it reaches its full complement of 300 students each year, Mater Dei Hospital will have to open its doors to the medical school for clinical practice. Barts is lending prestige as the consortium that clinched a €200 million privatisation deal for the Gozo, St Luke's and Karen Grech hospitals, which is banking on at- tracting medical tourists to the Maltese islands. On its part, the government sees Barts as a way of attracting paying students to a Gozo campus, even though their clinical training in the third, fourth and fifth years will actually happen at Mater Dei Hospital. That has rankled medical stu- dents like Alexander Clayman, the Malta Medical School representa- tive on the Faculty of Medicine, who says Barts is the brand name for the privatisation of the hospi- tals. But a high-quality medical school like Malta's barely has suf- ficient access to clinical resources, with too many medical students al- ready in operating theatres, wards and outpatients' rooms. "That is bad for clinicians, stu- dents and patients alike," Clayman had told MaltaToday. With seven Maltese students to each consult- ant, this ratio is itself testimony to the strained resources at MDH, but Barts operates a strict tutor- student ratio: two students to each consultant at outpatients and in theatre, and four students for ward rounds. "Introducing more medi- cal students into Mater Dei will almost inevitably be to the detri- ment of UoM's medical students' quality of education," Clayman said. Indeed, Professor Anthony War- rens himself is aware of the effects that the privatisation will have on doctors, as he says in his letter which he sent to all doctors on the register of the Medical Council. "We recognised that we are invit- ing you to become involved during what is a period of change in the delivery of healthcare in Malta: there are significant plans to ex- pand the sector and some of what has traditionally been delivered entirely from the public sector will now also be delivered from the pri- vate sector. "We appreciate, as with any new system, it will take time for organi- sations to adapt to the new part- nership during which it may be an unsettling and demanding period. We at Barts are committed to play- ing our part to ease the transition." mvella@mediatoday.com.mt News MALTA 14.5x18cm ING.pdf 1 19/04/16 16:45 A cyclist was killed when he was hit by a moving car in Mosta yes- terday afternoon. The cyclist, a 51-year-old Aus- tralian who lived in Mosta, was riding along Triq il-Kbira when he was hit by the car, a Toyota Vitz driven by a 29-year-old woman from Haz-Zebbug. The cause of the accident is as yet unknown, but police con- firmed that the man died on im- pact. Photographs from the scene of the accident show the car's wind- screen smashed and its front bumper dented. The bicycle landed several metres away from the rider, suggesting that he was hit with considerable impact. A police hearse took the victim to the Mater Dei morgue, and the car and bicycle were taken to the police garage for investigation. Barts offers honorary appointments, government will pay for doctors Cyclist killed in Mosta traffic accident It will take time for organisations to adapt to the new partnership during which it may be an unsettling and demanding period – Prof. Warrens Prof. Anthony Warrens of Barts QMUL