Undergraduate Clerkships At The Cornwall Regional Hospital

About CRH

Cornwall Regional Hospital is the largest hospital in Western Jamaica and the only Type A hospital outside of the Corporate Area. The following clinical services are offered:
Internal medicine, as well as the medical specialties of Nephrology, Neurology, Medical Oncology, Cardiology and Dermatology; Obstetrics and Gynecology; Child health; General surgery, as well as the surgical specialties of Orthopedics, Urology, Pediatric surgery, Otorhinolaryngology, Ophthalmology and Plastic surgery; Radiotherapy; Radiology ; Anesthesia and Intensive Care; Accident and Emergency Medicine; Psychiatry; Anatomical & Histopathology and Cytology.
Support services include Laboratory, Pharmacy and Physiotherapy departments.
Tours of the hospital and directories will be available from the secretary of the Deputy Dean

Accommodation

Accommodation for undergraduate students is available at the UWI-Western Jamaica Campus Hall of Residence, where you may be required to share a room. Rooms at CRH previously utilized by UWI students in Community Health and Surgery will now be used as on-call rooms for senior students in all of the 4 major, clinical disciplines (Surgery, O&G, Child Health and Internal Medicine). Students on-call who cannot be accommodated at CRH will
be collected by the UWI bus at 10.30pm every night and returned to the Hall of Residence.
Students are also allowed to stay with family or family friends in Montego Bay, in which case personal arrangements must be made for transportation to and from the hospital. All we ask is that the address and telephone number of your host be provided to the office of the Deputy Dean at CRH.
The Hall of Residence is well appointed. There is a dining room/kitchen (including new cooking and laundry equipment). Rooms boast internet access and cable television. There is a communal lounge which currently houses 3 computers (at least 2 more are to be added) and wireless internet. Security is provided.

Dining

There are a number of food outlets in close proximity to CRH, all of which will deliver food at very reasonable cost.
Following is a list of these establishments:
(1) Easy corner – 971-0198
(2) P&O – 979-7619
(3) B&D – 940-7801
(4) Gibb’s – 979-7861
(5) Dragon Bay Court (Chinese) – 952-6494; 940-3708
(6) Andrew’s – 290-5611; 851-7998
Snacks (patties, small meals, drinks) may also be purchased from 2 shops on the 3rd floor of the hospital.

Transportation

There is a shuttle bus which will take medical students to CRH by 8.00am. The bus will return to CRH at 2.00pm(upon request, though the Office of the Deputy Dean), 5.00pm and again at 10.30pm to collect students for return to the Hall of Residence.
Recreation
The FMS plans to construct a students’ lounge at CRH, adjacent to the residents’ lounge. In the interim, the residents have agreed to allow students to use their lounge. The combination for the entrance lock may be accessed from the Deputy Dean’s secretary. The residents’ lounge has a TV and computer with internet access and wireless router is to be added soon.

Health Care

Arrangements have been made for you to receive primary health care at the well appointed, multi-specialty Montego Bay Hospital and Urology Center, which is located next door to CRH.
UWI Faculty and Administration
The hub of the UWI’s FMS administration will be the offices of the Deputy Dean and secretary on the 4th floor of CRH.
Your main tutors will be Associate Lecturers of the UWI, who are consultants at CRH, but you are encouraged to interact with residents and interns as they go about their daily chores. Such interaction is an important part of your education.

Teaching Facility

There is one main lecture room and several tutorial rooms at CRH.
A meeting room dedicated to video-conferencing, which will enable real-time interaction with UWI, is being prepared.
The curriculum will be exactly that of the UWI’s Faculty of Medical Sciences. Delivery of the curriculum will be, as it is at UHWI, by a combination of classroom lectures and tutorials, ward rounds, bedside teaching, outpatient clinics and demonstration of procedures on wards and in the operating theatres. The program at CRH has been carefully worked out between the Heads of Departments at UWI and their counterparts at CRH but there are some uniquely local inputs which we hope will enhance your experience.
You are required to provide (and launder) your own scrubs when you come to the operating theatres, as is required at UHWI.

Library

Our library is located on the 3rd floor and is administered by librarian Mrs. Marsha Stewart. The library has 5 computers, connected to the internet, and a 6th will be provided soon. Wireless internet is also available. You have access to the online facilities of the medical library at the UWI through the CRH library. Only a very limited collection of reference texts will be available at this time.
The library is open from 8.30am to 5.00pm, Mondays to Thursdays, and 8:30am to 4.00pm on Fridays. The UWI has promised to consider funding extended opening hours if demand indicates a need for it.
On arrival at CRH
Report to the secretary of the Deputy Dean on the 4th floor. You will be given a short questionnaire requesting predominantly demographic data which will be held on a secure database in the Deputy Dean’s office. You will then be given a tour of the facility (and a map, if you wish) and finally escorted to the appropriate lecturer in charge of your clerkship. If any problems arise, please feel free to call Dr. East through CRH’s exchange at 952-5100.


Prepared by:
Jeffrey East, MB.BS(Hons), DM(Surg), FRCSEd, FACS, MSc(Epi)(Lond), DLSHTM
Chief of Surgery (CRH), Associate lecturer (UWI) and Deputy Dean (FMS, UWI Western).