Ross students help out BFPA

Students of Ross University School of Medicine (RUSM) have donated funds to the Barbados Family Planning Association (BFPA) to purchase a cardiotocography (CTG) machine to monitor babies in the womb.

During a presentation at RUSM, based at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre, BFPA’s Clinical Director Dr Rashida Daisley thanked the students of the university’s Obstetrics/Gynecology Student Interest Group for their generous donation to purchase the equipment that will enhance the care of pregnant women.

Dr Daisley explained that often clients were reluctant to be transferred to other facilities for investigations for which the CTG was needed. She said having the capability to conduct the investigation in-house will improve the quality of antenatal care and lead to better patient outcomes.

In the pre-COVID era, she said BFPA had “happily provided a facility to the budding Ross physicians to receive practical training in some areas of gynaecology”.

“This ability to interact with a diverse subset of patients not only enabled the development of their clinical skills but also provided an opportunity to learn compassion and understanding; skills that are often undervalued but critical to quality clinical care.

“BFPA has a strong relationship with Ross University School of Medicine and at every interaction we’ve been very impressed by the quality of medical education provided,” Dr Daisley added.

RUSM Assistant Professor in Clinical Medicine and consultant obstetrician/gynaecologist Dr Sandra Bynoe, who facilitated the relationship between the BFPA and students, alluded to the importance of patient-centred care to the Ross curriculum. She said the students’ identification of the need for the CT machine for antenatal care is evidence of the focus within the Ross curriculum.

“The students worked tirelessly to raise funds to purchase this machine for the Family Planning Association. So you can see that they would have put great thought into this gift. With this gift, patients would no longer have to leave to go to the hospital. They would be able to be monitored at the Barbados Family Planning Association,” Dr Bynoe noted. (AH)