St. Kitts gets another Medical University
…Robert Ross cuts ribbon
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(l to r) Governor General, His Excellency Sir Cuthbert Sebastian; Hon. Sam Condor, Minister of Education; Anne Ross; Dr. Robert Ross, founder of UMHS; and Dr. Warren Ross, President of UMHS, cut the ceremonial ribbon to officially open the doors of UMHS
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BASSETERRE, S. Kitts – Once again the Federation has expanded its educational faculties as Robert Ross, founder of the International University of Nursing and the Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine, cut the ribbon on May 13 and welcomed the inaugural class to his latest venture, The St. Kitts University of Medicine and Health Sciences (UMHS).
The US$30m campus was forecast to become one of the leading facilities in the Caribbean and was listed as “comparable to medical schools in the United States”. The facility boasts two 150- seat state-of-the-art audio and visual laboratories, a 24-bed virtual hospital, and an under construction 11,000 sq. ft. anatomy laboratory.
“I wholeheartedly support any endeavor that seeks to improve the quality of our educational content…[and] adds to the rich repertoire of educational entities that our small country hosts,” said Hon. Sam Condor, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, as he gave the welcoming remarks at Tuesday’s ceremony.
Dr. Warren Ross, President of UMHS, said that Robert Ross decided to found the medical school when he realised that the schools in the US were at their maximum capacity, depriving many students of the chance to become physicians.
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The student and faculty body of the IUON and UMHS
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“There are currently 39 000 applicants each year to medical schools, and yet only 17 000 are accepted. It is a sign that there is a great need for this university,” said the President.
Robert Ross, who turns 90 this year, started his career by selling 25 cents newspapers to support his family. He said there were several other reasons for him to open UMHS in St. Kitts. “I found that many of the medical schools in the US are charging excessive amounts for their classes.”
He also stated that one of his main reasons for founding the school was to give students an alternative to the large class sizes in the US, some of which could be as large as 400 persons. “We want these students to be great physicians, which requires one-on-one interaction with trained faculty. That’s why we started this school…to give them the time and attention they deserve,” said Ross.
~~Adz:Left~~Having a business career that spans nearly seven decades, Robert Ross has achieved success in many business sectors including trading in industrial commodities and founding his first medical university in a small Dominican hotel in 1979. To date, there are some 7 000 graduates of Ross’ universities worldwide treating nearly seven million patients.
One student of the inaugural class of UMHS who spoke to SKNVibes said that it was an “honour” to be part of what is sure to be yet another internationally renowned university in the Ross family. The school’s doors were officially thrown open yesterday, Monday 12, with 25 students in attendance.
