It is official! The 12th faculty within the University of Malta, officially named Faculty of Health Sciences but initially born as the Institute of Health Care in 1987, has been launched.
It is fair and fitting to pay tribute to the founders of the IHC, to those whose vision, commitment and determination led them to set up the institute and, with a lot of hard work, nurtured its early development. To mention just a few: John Rizzo Naudi, then Parliamentary Secretary for Health as chairman; Anthony Serracino Inglott, head of the Department of Pharmacy as director, Gauden Galea as executive director and their team of highly-motivated professionals in the various disciplines.
It was crystal clear at the time that the advances in medical knowledge, technology and care as well as the modern and fast developments in health service delivery made a new approach to the training of local health professionals mandatory. This meant the upgrading and reorganisation of the different courses run by the Department of Health catering for the different disciplines within one educational structure.
Let us not underestimate the great difficulties that this young institute had to tackle and overcome in its first years of existence. To mention a few: head hunting for qualified professionals with the potential for academia, course structuring and, the hardest nut of all, enticing foreign lecturers to participate in the teaching programmes.
The first degree programme to be run was the BSc (Hons.) in nursing and midwifery in 1988 with a heavy reliance on suitably-qualified foreign lecturers soon to be followed by other degree courses in the allied health professions as highly-qualified and experienced professionals were recruited. The main focus of the IHC in these formative years was on the academic development of the teaching staff of the institute and, by the end of 2000, all the teaching staff were Maltese while the vast majority possessed a Master’s degree in their discipline with a small number already having a PhD.
In January 2000 a new director, Sandra Buttigieg, a medical doctor with experience in management of hospital services, was appointed.
The strategic vision became focused on the development of a professional healthcare team that enhances an integrated and holistic service of high quality. Growth was the inevitable overall strategy, in quality and standards, in the number of disciplines and courses offered, in the number of highly-qualified staff possessing doctorates from foreign prestigious universities, in research, in links with foreign universities and in the exchange of students. That this vision has been achieved is proven by the fact that foreign universities are now actively seeking to establish formal links with our institute as a result of the international reputation it has acquired.
Over the years, diploma, degree, and postgraduate courses were introduced in communication therapy, community nursing, environmental health, health services management, medical laboratory science, mental health nursing, midwifery, nursing, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, podiatry and radiography. The vast majority of these courses were completely new and had to be built up from scratch. We have also experienced the birth of new divisions, namely that of dental technology (which now forms part of the Dental Faculty), midwifery and podiatry.
In 2000, the newly-appointed director introduced the practice of compiling annual and later on biennial reports on the activities of the institute. These reports proved to be very important because, through them, one can easily follow the progress and achievements attained throughout the years.
Comparing the number of graduates for the years 2000 and 2009 one notes the following numbers: Diploma – 66 and 36 respectively; BSc – 42 and 156 respectively; MSc – three and 21 respectively; and post-qualification diploma – none and 12 respectively. The total number of graduates: 111 in 2000 and 216 in 2009, showing clearly the trend towards the availability of more highly-qualified healthcare professionals on the market. In all, and including all the diplomas and degrees in the nine years between 2000 and 2009, the IHC produced 1,859 graduates. In 2010, we will also witness the first PhD graduation under the auspices of the Institute of Health Care/Faculty of Health Sciences.
The partnership recently struck with the University of Cardiff to offer a BSc (Hons.) in both diagnostic and therapeutic radiography (current degree covers only diagnostic) is the latest feather in the IHC’s cap. This first for Malta will provide the health service with radiographers able to work in the two branches of radiography – diagnostic and therapeutic – in support of the government’s intention to develop cancer treatment and the building of new facilities at Mater Dei Hospital whose intent is to expand the oncology service already being provided locally.
Much has been achieved in the last 10 years but, perhaps, the most outstanding achievement has to do with the number of full-time members of staff with doctorate qualifications, namely 17 out of a full-time complement of 30 while the remaining members are actively reading for their doctorates. Furthermore, there has been a notable increase in new courses in both the already established and the new disciplines that are now being offered.
I feel privileged to be able to say that I have seen all of this happening. I joined the IHC in 1991 as director of studies and was until recently also coordinator of the Environmental Health Division and an active member of the IHC board.
Despite these noteworthy achievements, however I must say, with an undeniable twinge of nostalgia, that the move towards a faculty was inevitable.
Of course, this move required major restructuring and a significant change in the type of leadership from an appointed director with executive powers to a dean elected from among the heads of 10 departments by the members of staff. Allow me to wish this young faculty, with its fabulous origins and its admirable past, as well as its 10 departments namely Applied Biomedical Sciences, Communication Therapy, Food Studies and Environmental Health, Health Services Management, Midwifery, Nursing, Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy, Podiatry and Radiography, a splendid future with even more outstanding successes.
I am very proud to have been part of the IHC, now the Faculty of Health Sciences, the 12th faculty of the University of Malta.
Prof. Ferrito is a member of the Faculty of Health Sciences.