From the last 26 to 27 February took place in Jamaica, at the University of the West Indies (UWI), a meeting between the authorities of that institution with the Virtual Campus of Public Health (VCPH) to analyze the incorporation of Jamaica as node campus. The meeting was attended by Dr. Dennis Edelmide, Head of the Department of Social Medicine and Psychiatry, and Dr. Charles Godue, Project Coordinator Human Resources Development of the Pan American Health Organization, with their respective teams.
During this meeting we reviewed the existing institutional conditions for development of the Virtual Campus of Public Health at the UWI, in terms of technical and support resources and the level of knowledge in the use of new technologies in distance education. Also identified priority issues in public health for the development and adaptation of virtual courses and potential participating institutions to formulate a joint action plan.
By the VCPH, discussed the needs and challenges in developing public health leadership and expertise of the health workforce, initiatives and perspectives, and they were the mission, values ??and principles, the concepts of the strategic model CVSP, web 2.0 and learning networks, open platforms and open courses, repository of learning resources, tutorials and, finally, a demonstration of the courses offered through the CVSP.
Also studied the possible sharing and joint development of courses and learning resources, such as skills development or public health priority issues such as social Determinants, elderly, among others.
This node of Jamaica, the first in the Caribbean, will be staying at the UWI, given its current technological capabilities. The governance structure would be composed of professional campus of UWI, Jamaica Ministry of Health, and PAHO / WHO Jamaica.