Monrovia, Liberia – The final-year female medical students at the only state-run medical school, AM Dogliotti, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, have decried over the appalling learning environment of the medical school.
The female medical students outlined limited instructors, lack of study materials, transportation, feeding, internet connectivity, and poor dormitory facilities, among other major challenges impeding their studies at the state-run medical school.
Victoria Nimely, a final year medical student at the AM Dogliotti said one of the major challenges facing the medical school is the fact that they have limited resources and a very small number of instructors who do not work full-time in the institution because they have to be at the hospital at the same time as going to teach them, noting that they can’t benefit from the instructors full-time like in other countries.
She disclosed that the medical school does not have a library or books to enhance their studies, which she said is impeding their learning activities.
Emma Johnson is a final-year student at the public medical school. She claimed that having a child and the dearth of medical resources to support their education were two of her biggest obstacles in medical school.
“For me, having a child is one of the challenges I face while being in medical school,” she said. It’s quite difficult to be a medical student and have a child. There are no books here. We don’t have hard copy books, so sometimes we have to figure out how to download the soft copies so we can read,” she claimed.
The European Union Delegation to Sierra Leon’s Finance Officer, who previously worked in Liberia for four years and five months, donated some special equipment to the female medical students over the weekend as a way of helping them improve their work. The female medical students were discussing their challenges at the time.
AM Doglitti Clinical Coordinator Madam Gbanblon acknowledged the various difficulties the medical school has in response to the many issues raised by the female medical students.
Nonetheless, she made a strong request to the EU Ambassador, asking him or her to consider helping the medical school in any way they could.
She revealed that medical students face a variety of challenges, such as a lack of medical educators and a lack of experts or consultants in the country to guide the following generation of medical students.
As a member of the medical school faculty, she went on, “I’ll say that there are many challenges that our students face, ranging from our lack of faculty members to the fact that we don’t have many specialists or consultants in the nation to train the young generation. Looking beyond the fact that we don’t have what it takes to accommodate our students, talk about dormitories, buses, and hospitals that will house the majority of the student body.”
A major issue, according to AM Dogliotti, Clinical Coordinator, is that there aren’t enough seats in the medical school to accommodate all of the students enrolled.
In a brief statement, Kiril Nikolov, the finance officer for the EU delegation in Sierra Leone, stated that his family was inspired to give gifts to female final-year medical students because of their drive and selflessness in attempting to save lives.
The EU Delegate emphasized that he traveled over 600 kilometers from Sierra Leone to arrive in Liberia with a renewed sense of hope for the country, saying that these female medical students represent the new hopes of Liberia since they are unique, intelligent, and committed to their vocation of saving lives.
Nikolov stressed that the bulk of his family members are medical professionals who have dedicated their entire careers to saving lives; thus, it is a huge honor for him and his family to donate to female medical students in Liberia. The donation, he notes, is made in memory of his 93-year-old aunt, a medical practitioner who saved lives for half of his life. He further notes that his first job was as a lifeguard posted to a seaside.
According to the EU diplomat, his contribution aims to save millions of lives, particularly those of youngsters in Africa who are susceptible to a variety of diseases.
President William V. S. Tubman created the Achille Mario Dogliotti College of Medicine and Health Sciences, or AM Dogliotti, in the early to mid-1960s as a way for Liberia to produce its own medical professionals.
Formerly known as the Monrovia-Torino College of Medicine, the AM Dogliotti College of Medicine and Health Sciences was combined with the University of Liberia to become the second professional school after the Law School, which was the first academic program.
As some female final-year medical students and faculty members have described, the nation’s oldest and only medical school still faces difficulties.
Reported by: Watson G. Richards
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