 | |
| Type | Private medical school |
|---|---|
| Established | 2011 |
| President | Dr. Mane Paulpillai |
| Language | English |
| Website | richmondgu |
Richmond Gabriel University is a private university located in St. Vincent and the Grenadines in the Caribbean. [1] The university commenced operations in 2011 as All Saints University, College of Medicine, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and was subsequently renamed after a change of management and ownership. [2]
Situated in the eastern Caribbean Sea, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is an island nation consisting of the primary island, Saint Vincent, along with the northern portion of the Grenadines, a chain of 32 smaller islands and cays—low-lying areas composed of coral or rock. The southern Grenadines fall under the jurisdiction of Grenada. Geographically, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is characterized by its volcanic and mountainous terrain, with one volcano remaining active to date. Moreover, these islands are predominantly forested, contributing to the nation's lush and diverse ecology. [3]
In May 2024, the university closed its campus in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and is now operating from Curaçao. It is a Dutch Caribbean island, and its capital is Willemstad. Although the official languages are Papiamentu and Dutch, both English and Spanish are widely spoken in Curaçao. [4]
Medical programs are open to both local and foreign students. Bachelor of Science and Basic Science programs are held in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, followed by clinical clerkships in ACGME-approved teaching hospitals in the United States and clinical sites throughout Canada, UK and the Caribbean. [5] The current Dean of Academic Affairs is Dr. Sanjoy Sanyal, MBBS, MS (Surgery), MSc (Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh), ADPHA. [6]
Richmond Gabriel University is chartered by the Government of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and is authorized to confer the graduate and post-graduate degrees, including the degree of Doctor of Medicine (MD), upon students who successfully complete all graduation requirements. The university is accredited by the National Accreditation Board of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and duly registered. Richmond Gabriel University, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, is recognized by FAIMER [7] and its graduates are eligible to apply for ECFMG Certification and United States Medical Licensing Examinations (USMLE) as a step towards ECFMG Certification. RGU is recognized by the GMC in the United Kingdom making medical graduates eligible to apply to take the qualifying examinations and by the World Health Organization [8] allowing graduates of Richmond Gabriel University to be eligible for practice license in UN-member states. The university is recognized by the MDCN in Nigeria and graduates are eligible to apply to take the council's assessment examination.[ citation needed ]
Sir Frederick Nathaniel Ballantyne, was the Governor-General of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines from 2002–2019. A trained cardiologist and former chief medical officer of the country, he was appointed governor-general on 22 June 2002. He succeeded Dame Monica Dacon, who had been acting in the position after the death of Charles Antrobus.
St. Matthew's University (SMU) is a private for-profit offshore medical school located in Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands in the Caribbean. SMU has a School of Medicine and a School of Veterinary Medicine, which confer M.D. and D.V.M. degrees, respectively. St. Matthew's University is owned by R3 Education, Inc.
The American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine (AUC) is a private for-profit medical school. Its main basic science campus is located in Sint Maarten, and administrative offices are located in Miramar, Florida, in the United States. AUC is owned by Adtalem Global Education. The executive dean of AUC manages the medical school from offices in Miramar, Florida.
Saint James School of Medicine (SJSM) is a private for-profit offshore medical school with two basic science campuses, one in British Overseas Territory of Anguilla, and the other in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, it is considered one school with two campuses. Saint James confers upon its graduates the Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) degree.
St. Theresa's Medical University was a medical school located in Basseterre, St. Kitts prior to its closure in 2009.
Aureus University School of Medicine is a private university located in Oranjestad, Aruba. Aureus confers upon its graduates the Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree.
The Caribbean Accreditation Authority for Education in Medicine and other Health Professions (CAAM-HP) is an accrediting body for the education programmes and schools of medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine, nursing and other health professions in the 15 member nations of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). CAAM-HP was established in 2003 and is headquartered in Kingston, Jamaica.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. The Penal Code makes same-sex sexual acts illegal with a punishment up to 10 years in prison, although the law is not enforced. In addition, it outlaws the practice of "buggery", whether homosexual or heterosexual and irrespective of whether the act was consensual. The country's laws also do not address discrimination or harassment on account of sexual orientation or gender identity, nor recognize same-sex unions in any form, whether it be marriage or partnerships. Households headed by same-sex couples are not eligible for any of the same rights given to opposite-sex married couples. In 2024, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines upheld its constitutional ban on same-sex sexual activity within its High Court.
Avalon University School of Medicine (AUSOM) is a private medical school located in Willemstad, Curaçao, in the Caribbean. AUSOM confers upon its graduates the Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree. Administrative offices for the university are located in Youngstown, Ohio.
St. Martinus University Faculty of Medicine (SMUFOM) is a private medical school located in Willemstad, Curaçao, which started operating in 2000.
American International Medical University (AIMU) is an offshore medical school located on the Caribbean island of St. Lucia. It operates a School of Medicine and a School of Nursing. It partners with universities and hospitals in the United States including Washington Adventist University (WAU) in Takoma Park, Maryland for independent support programs and offers joint classes with WAU for the AIM-U Premedical Science Program on the WAU campus. Future AIM-U programs on the WAU campus may include BSN Completion and Introduction to Clinical Science, as well as the opportunity for AIM-U students to complete the WAU MBA program.
Trinity Medical Sciences University is an offshore private medical school with its Basic Science part of the MD program, Pre-Medical program and Masters program located in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in the Caribbean and Clinical Science part of the MD program in Warner Robins, Georgia, United States. It opened in 2008 as a fully accredited medical facility to respond to a shortage of physicians in the United States and Canada. It has its administrative headquarters in Roswell, Georgia, and it partners with Milton Cato Memorial Hospital located in Kingstown and Northwest Hospital in Baltimore.
All Saints University School of Medicine, Dominica (ASUDOM) is a private medical school located in the Caribbean. The schools' campus is in Roseau, Dominica, and is administered from Toronto, Ontario. There is also an office in Chicago, Illinois.
Atlantic University School of Medicine (AUSOM) was an offshore private medical school, located in St. Lucia from its foundation in 2010 until August 2017 and then for 5 months in St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda until December 2017, when it fully closed.
India–Saint Vincent and the Grenadines relations refers to the international relations that exist between India and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. The Embassy of India in Paramaribo, Suriname is concurrently accredited to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
Rosalind Ambrose is a Vincentian radiologist who has been instrumental in the development of the field in her country and throughout the Caribbean region. She served as Director of Education for the Kingstown Medical College, was a founding member of the Caribbean Society of Radiologists, and was President of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Medical Association from 2001 to 2010.
Cannabis in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines was prior known to be illegal but is now decriminalized up to 2 ounces. Persons caught with 56 grammes or less of the drug will not be subject to incarceration. Instead, they will be fined a maximum of $500 and be subject to other measures including begin given educational material about cannabis; counselling and rehabilitative care. These provisions were among several amendments that were made to the Drugs Amendment Act (2018), which was passed in Parliament on July 25. In addition to only being a ticketable offense, the amendment provides for Vincentians to smoke the herb in the privacy of their homes and in places of worship of the Rastafarian faith without punishment. The amendment also said that the Minister may designate a list of public areas where the smoking of cannabis may be allowed. The country has correlating legal medical marijuana laws. Parliament on December 11, 2018, passed two Acts, one which establishes a Medical Cannabis Industry in St Vincent and the Grenadines and the other which offers amnesty for traditional marijuana growers. The Vincentian Parliament passed legislation to protect the intellectual property of breeders of new plant varieties in St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), the Plant Breeders’ Protection Bill, 2019. It sets up the jurisprudential framework within which these persons will be able to accrue the rights, how these rights will be protected, how they will be published so that persons in the entire society, in the court and globally, can be aware of the hard work which was done, the agriculture minister said. Under the law, a person must obtain the authorization of a grantee with respect to propagating material of the protected variety, to produce or reproduce, condition the material for the purpose of propagation, offer the material for sale, to sell the material, import or export the material, or stock the material for any of the previous purposes. Regarding infringement of plant breeders’ rights, the following acts are exempt: an act done privately for non-commercial purposes, an act done for experimental purposes, or an act done for the purpose of breeding other plant varieties. The law allows for compulsory licenses where a person may apply to the court for the grant of a compulsory license to exploit a protected variety in SVG. Subject to terms that the court thinks fit, the court may make an order for the grant of compulsory licenses if it is satisfied that the grant of the compulsory licenses is in the public interest. Offense under the law include falsification of register and falsely representing a plant variety as a protected variety. The law also orders the registrar to publish applications for plant breeders’ rights, proposed and approved denominations, withdrawals of application for plant breeders’ rights, the rejection of applications for plant breeders’ rights, any grant of a breeders’ right, any change in the breeder or the agent in respect of a plant variety, lapses of plant breeders’ rights, any invalidation or revocation of a plant breeder's rights, the licenses in relation to plant breeders’ rights, where applicable. Cannabis is widely grown illicitly on the island and is the nation's most valuable agricultural product. Saint Vincent is the most prolific producer of cannabis in the Caribbean, other than Jamaica.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines was a part of the global viral pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which was confirmed to have reached Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in March 2020. The first confirmed case was discovered on 11 March 2020.
The American University of Barbados School of Medicine (AUB), founded in 2011, is a private medical school with its main campus in Wildey, Barbados. When it opened in January 2012, it was the first offshore private medical school in Barbados, started as a branch of Era's Lucknow Medical College and Hospital, based in Lucknow, India.
43°41′08″N79°34′58″W / 43.68556°N 79.58278°W Opening of Richmond Gabriel university in Curacao