News Releases

New home for UWI Arima Dental Clinic

For Release Upon Receipt - May 1, 2015

St. Augustine


21 years of service to the community now housed in state-of-the-art facility

ST. AUGUSTINE, Trinidad and Tobago – For 21 years, The UWI St. Augustine School of Dentistry, an arm of the Faculty of Medical Sciences, has been serving the community of Arima and environs through The UWI Arima Dental Clinic located at the Arima Health Facility. Continuing The UWI’s commitment to providing service to the wider community, the old facility was upgraded and The UWI formally unveiled the clinic on April 27, 2015.

Speaking at the ceremony, UWI St. Augustine Pro Vice-Chancellor and Campus Principal, Professor Clement Sankat acknowledged the work done by the early pioneers of the School of Dentistry and credited them for paving the way to this state-of-the-art facility. The new clinic, previously housed in two locations within the Arima Health Facility prior to its new location, will operate Monday to Wednesday from 8:30 am to 2:30 and on Thursday, from 8am to noon. It is a walk-in adult clinic, providing services like extractions (by appointment), cleanings, fillings and other planned surgical procedures. All complex surgical cases, however, will still be referred to the School of Dentistry at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, Mt. Hope.

Professor Sankat also used the occasion to welcome the new Director of the School of Dentistry, Professor Montgomery McAulay-Rieger, and thanked former Director, Dr Haytham Al-Bayaty, and the staff of the School for their work. Noting that the opening of this clinic also coincides with the 25th Anniversary of the Faculty of Medical Sciences, Professor Sankat also added that three current lecturers at the School of Dentistry: Dr. William Smith, Dr. Candy Naraynsingh and Dr. Dharmendra Rohit, were members of the first graduating interns from the school in 1994, testimony to the fact that the School of Dentistry has been building national capacity within in the field.

Since 1994, The UWI School of Dentistry has been the only local institution to produce professionals in the field. Among some of its most recent achievements, the School of Dentistry launched its Special Needs Clinic and initiated fee-paying services in the areas of fixed orthodontic appliance, oral histopathology diagnostics and crown and bridge fabrication of dentures. The School also worked closely with the Trinidad and Tobago Cancer Society in producing an information leaflet on Oral Cancer Prevention and collaborated with the Ministry of Health and the North Central Regional Health Authority to train Dental interns at the Arima Health Centre. In May 2014, the School hosted a Continuous Dental Education Seminar facilitated by visiting external examiners.

The Campus Principal also recognized and thanked the Minister of Health, the Honourable Dr. Fuad Khan (represented at the opening by Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Colin Furlonge) for his support and CEO of the North Central Regional Health Authority, Mr. Kumar Bodram, for his collaboration and support on this project, in addition to the direct assistance given to the students and staff of the Faculty of Medical Sciences.

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About The UWI

Since its inception in 1948, The University of the West Indies (UWI) has evolved from a fledgling college in Jamaica with 33 students to a full-fledged, regional University with well over 40,000 students. Today, UWI is the largest, most longstanding higher education provider in the Commonwealth Caribbean, with four campuses in Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Open Campus. The UWI has faculty and students from more than 40 countries and collaborative links with 160 universities globally; it offers undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Food & Agriculture, Engineering, Humanities & Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Science and Technology and Social Sciences. UWI’s seven priority focal areas are linked closely to the priorities identified by CARICOM and take into account such over-arching areas of concern to the region as environmental issues, health and wellness, gender equity and the critical importance of innovation. Website: www.uwi.edu

 

(Please note that the proper name of the university is The University of the West Indies, inclusive of the “The”, hence The UWI.)

 

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