A key goal of Dominica’s recently-established learning institution- St Joseph University- is to develop the island’s medical tourism business in the not-too-distant future.
According to Mr Ian Jackson, Marketing Manager at the university, part of their mission is to bring more individuals to the island from across the world, not only to educate them on medical care but also to promote Dominica in the regional and international markets.
Jackson stated in an exclusive interview with Dominica News Online (DNO), that “people travel to countries for different reasons, some come here for World Creole Music Festival, carnival and other events, but what we are seeking to do is reach a point where we are known for health as well.”
“We are hoping that this institution will encourage more people to visit Dominica and that Dominica will become a centre in the OECS where people come and spend their money not only on learning but also on accommodation, travel, dining, and so on, and before you know it, we will have a little medi-tourism going on, and that is the overarching aim and focus,” he emphasized.
Jackson went on to explain that while their primary focus is health with intermediate courses such as bachelor’s degrees in nursing, pre-nursing, sonography and pharmacology available, courses are also being offered in other subject areas such as business and computer science, to name a few.
As such he issued a call to the Dominican public to support the local university, which he asserts not only offers flexible hours and competitive rates but also top-tier learning.
With courses mainly held in the evenings, except for a few English as a Second Language (ESL) programmes, the educator points to this as another important advantage for working citizens who want to acquire their degree at home.
“Therefore, we are certain that we will have support from Dominicans because our fees are 20%, and in some cases up to 50%, less than what we expect in the region for the same, and often even higher quality of courses that we offer. We’re also giving Dominicans who come here an additional 5% discount,” Jackson stated.
Providing some background on the journey to achieving his almost three-decade dream, Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist Dr. Curvin Ferreira who heads of the institution, revealed that his desire to establish a university originated in 1978 while working as an intern and witnessing the establishment of Ross University.
“And I thought the owner at the time was just a businessman who had the money. But he didn’t have the insights into medical education,” the health professional said. “So from that time, I sort of wondered whether it would be something that I should go for. But in about 1995, I had a conversation with Norris Prevost who sort of ignited that passion, and from then it never failed.”
While Dr. Ferreira was allowed permission to open the educational school in Dominica this time, previous attempts were unsuccessful.
In 2010, he submitted an application to the Government for permission to establish a medical school in Dominica under the group, Global Education Providers Inc., but was denied, a decision which Ferreira challenged in court.
He pointed out that his patriotism is what has kept him going up to this point despite the many hardships he has faced.
“Because I feel that foreigners come to the Caribbean, and they set up their schools and the money disappears. My motivation is not all about money,” the veteran physician asserted. “For me, it is a matter of national pride, because there are probably 50 or more medical schools in the Caribbean, none belonging to any Caribbean person and this is really one of my driving forces that sort of kept me going until we achieved it.”
However, Dr. Ferreira is under no illusion that the effort of ensuring that St. Joseph University develops compassionate, well-educated doctors and other professional personnel has only just begun.
He said further that the institution intends to take advantage of what Dominica has to offer and will thus offer studies that might strengthen the island’s resources.
“It’s sad that none of the universities on the island is doing marine biology. We have one of the few oceanic rainforests in the world, and nobody’s doing forest management. So we are looking at those environmental things,” he said, while further vowing to expand the country’s knowledge economy.
On the heels of a visit by the Dominica Medical Board, the university was inducted into the World Directory of Medical Schools last month, which Jackson and Ferreira both see as a step in the right direction towards accreditation.
While he acknowledges obtaining accreditation will not come easy, Dr. Ferreira sees that as another challenge which he and his staff are ready to take on in ensuring that St. Joseph University is a “bona fide medical university.”
As the school awaits accreditation, credits can be transferred to the United States Medical Licensing Education Board (USLEB)- one of the universities with which St Joseph has partnered- to allow individuals enrolled in the programme to take their exams.
Although St. Joseph University, which is a subsidiary of Adams Health & Education Services Ltd., is currently located at Adams Tower on Great Marlborough Street in the heart of Roseau, the longer-term vision is to establish a Center in St. Joseph—where the proprietor, Dr. Curvin Ferreira is from —and later other parts of the island.
Approximately 30 students have already enrolled in the various programmes, and it is expected that this number will significantly expand in September as the university welcomes a new cohort.
It is what you have done for Dominica?Dr.Curvin Ferreira have built a few houses in Dominica,built buy Dominicans.Today he has several people employed including vehicle drivers.These people can take home a salary to feed their family,so they do not live on food stamps,section 8 ,homeless,in a basement,on drugs or living on handout from the church like you do.Bums leaving their country to work in foreign lands,when they fail they blame Skerrit.The smart and ambitious ones have worked in the USA and built built beautiful houses in Dominica,go do the same, Sack sot.All you maltwavy in America all you want to blame Skerrit,all you doe vote Skerrit,Skerrit doe put all you on earth,but all you want to blame him for all you stupidness and laziness.Those UWP aholes give their land to foreigners,now they buying things grown on their own land by foreigners,and they saying cost of living is high.There is one in NewYork(Labour queen)Jacky girl,another waste of time,loving the most ugly Jamaican
Dr.Curvin Ferreira is a very successful doctor.If you know what you, Dom-in – toilet know,why did you the pimp on Figueroa street in Los Angeles and your UWP bums make him deputy leader of UWP?The people of St.joseph told the doctor they would never vote him,as long as he is on a UWP ticket.United Workers Party are too lazy to work,parasites living off the hard work of hardworking people.They almost brought the AC.Shillingford man to his knees.The Antilles man coolay because of more than $5,000,000 in LPO.UWP tried to bleed the doctor they failed.They thought the doctor was a Jacka like sticky fingers,who worked for the IMF for 14 years at $10,000US monthly and having to show for it.Now the Jacka is in South Sudan lying to the Dominican people about working for the Sudanese government.A party of corrupt thieves.A man is the leader of a political party in Dominica,but he is living in one of the most corrupt and poorest countries in the world South Sudan.Dr.Economist cannot help Sudan.
Image is everything. That picture of the university’s “Marketing Manager” dressed as if he is on a casual walk to the neighbourhood shop in an article that is supposed to promote the very new university does not help the school. Are you serious, man!?
Is USLEB a University? Really?
“According to Mr Ian Jackson, Marketing Manager at the university, part of their mission is to bring more individuals to the island from across the world, not only to educate them on medical care.”
Bull; if you have a medical school, call it that: Now tell me the names of medical schools and hospital universities across the the world with which yours is affiliated .
Boy both of you looks as if you have one foot in the grave and one outside. Across the world have countless colleges and universities, educating people in every field of science. Ross University School of Medicine was successful started in a house in Roseau it was successful, because the former owner Ross was (is) an American who was able to attract students from the United States, and later a few other place.
In fact in the interim his students could not finish and return to America and practice medicine until they intern based on an American curriculum, and take the FSC examination, and pass it.
Con:
Just because you kiss Roosevelt butt, and become his lapdog so that he can give you a license to open so called medical School does not mean it’s going to become reality.
If Roosevelt, ignorant as he is thought you could organized and operate a medical institution, he would have long given you the old campus of Ross University School of Medicine for you to fart in.
So, how many ventures have you and your brothers ventured into your lifetime, and everything failed including your Airline of which one of the Aircraft’s piloted by an African Crashed into the mountains between Wesley and Marigot, how about the toilet-paper and paper towel business, which also failed before it got of the ground.
An Indian and an African supposed to have a medical school in Dominica, the Indian died, since then how many Indian and white students do you see traveling to Dominica to study medicine in that institution?
Yours is DOA as usual!
The man seems to be a strong man and with good intentions. You mentioned his failures and it may be so. But the brother keeps getting up and brushing off himself and looking forward instead of giving up and sitting idly by. I’m very embarrassed by your comments. Seems like you are carrying a grudge against this brother. No other people stands in our way, but our own people. I’ve experienced this all my life. But I never give up; and I won’t give up. One the flip side, I understand that the brother was humbled by the ruling party to get on their side if he wanted to achieve his goal. The brother seemed to have done just that to get the green light. This, I would not have done, personally. But this is how the entire country is being operated. So it’s who in the kitchen feeling the heat. I kinda know this family to be quite humble and I wish him well in his endeavors. Dominicans are like pigs that eat their young. Change will come.
People who accept corrupted money from Roosevelt Skerrit to run off their mouth lying on Roosevelt behalf are not strong people they are the weakest of human low life!
I would rather loose my life and all my business than to become a lapdog to a corrupted crook to only to get $4,000.000.00, to jump ship from one party to another.
I would hate to be a damn turn coat traitor, by accepting money to go and stand on a political platform to assassinate the character of Lennox Linton or any other selling my soul to common thief!
But that’s how low weak people bend to eat the feces of corruption to get along; by selling their body mind and soul for money!
In reference to this hero of yours Roosevelt destroyed his business, then for a few pieces of silver as Judas accepted to betray Jesus, it is the same he did betraying Lennox Linton and the UWP!
Low and inferior people shall forever be a failure in life, everything they touch must turn to ashes!
I am not advocating on behalf of Dr Curvin Ferreira because the innocent blood of too many babies crying . But as a Dominican and close friend of pM I am wondering why Skerrit did not hand Ross University to him instead of the Russian he handed it to? I mean listen to the so called president of what Skerrit calls the new Ross school :
He went on to state that the ‘.dm’ in the school’s website address refers to the fact, “that we are proudly a Dominican medical school.”
So they call it an American/ Canadian school but at the same time a Dum-in-a-can school. So why not just allow Dr Ferreira to run his school even if he has to hire those fake CBI passport sellers that behaving like professors to run it for him?
This damn new Ross school is nothing more than a scam Skerrit has running thing’s similar to when he had Monfared running his business here and Skerrit told us the man was a good man from Malaysia that loves Da and wants to help us only to No he was a known wanted…
That is also going to fail watch and see; if it ever become successful, I will take back every derogatory nasty thing I ever said about the master fief of Dominica!
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahah!
I know people who graduated Ross Medical School in Dominica, and are practicing here, but it did not come easy, so all of this thing that Curvin Ferreira is piping is simple blowing in the wind!
Even if all his students were to originate in Dominica, anybody going to them for treatment would have to be stupid.
Now, if Curvin has a university, one would hope it is an accredited institution, for that to happen he would have to be affiliated with some major University, school of medicine somewhere in this milky-way, even at the UWI School of Medicine; but to say it is accredited by the government of Dominica which is Roosevelt Skerrit that damn crook would not ring a bell!
Any student who would choose to do intern in a Dominica hospital would have to be mad!
With all your seven, eight degrees, you are yet to set up anything in Dominica or in Wesley. You envy people for their hard work and success. All you do is run your mouth and criticize. What a shame and an embarassment. You wish evil on the good doctor. You do not want him to succeed, as if………. For your information he might successfully prescribe something for you to overcome your claustrophobia and anxiety and evil mentality.
Boy Mash, people like your hero Curvin don’t know anything about hard work. I can write a book starting from his father and unto entire family.
And do not give me any degrees that I did not earn. I have four earned, not bought; three in the field of electronic, and electrical engineering, and one in the Liberal Arts.
The other four you are trying to bestow upon me; you can bestow them on yourself, because you don’t have any, none not one!
if they are to heavy a weight for you to carry, give them to a certain Dominica thief I know who like to buy Ph. D’s.
In any event you can give them to Roosevelt I hear how he like to buy Ph. D’s hoping to be called doctor, by scum of the earth like three bits of scum, Man Dog, Lin Clown, and you Dog Shi. (ds).
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
You all are three dogs always barking defending the corrupted crook Roosevelt Skerrit:
The last dem tell me is dat a certain thief sais him going change him name to corrupt crook…
Where you get all that money from to hold four degrees? That college must have been cheap and you got them from the land fields of Wesley. Why you always cussing with your four degrees? You got no class, man. Stop cussing and be a man. You like to dish it and you can’t take it when it is dished on you. You are a whining man and a whining man doe stand firm. Stop all that cussing with your fake degrees. Dem UWI boys smarter than you and only have one degree and you got 4 boom clat degrees. Let us hear some more cussing emanating from Wesley.
“Where you get all that money from to hold four degrees?”
ds, you are asking the wrong man such stupid question; in the years it took me to accomplish my academics, it cost me almost two hundred thousand dollars, and I did not thief people money, I did not thief government of Dominica money to pay for my education.
I could go out and buy a car, and not only one, but every car that I have presently cost over a hundred thousand dollars, why could I not have paid for my education.
You see one of the reasons Roosevelt could not finish University in America, is because he was so damn poor; he went to Dominica and lie said how he graduate such and such university, and when people check to find out the University said they have no record by that name attending and graduate in that university.
Hence he went to Punjab in India and bought a fake Ph.D from a none accredited university, try to make people call him doctor, that damn doctor of fart!
Hahahahahahahahahah!
How much your edu…