Saleshando to 'grill' Venson -Moitoi on chaos at medical school

Students of the medical school met the MP last week and gave him their perspective of the problems that "hinder our education".  The School of Medicine (SOM) has experienced such an exodus of teaching staff that an internal report presented to the senate of the university last Friday shows that the medical school would have lost 25 lecturers by mid-year.The students have also complained that though third year students are in their clinical placement phase that entails spending time at clinics, they are on their own and unsupervised because there is no one to co-ordinate this process.

"There is no coordination at all," said one student. "We are learning without direction. It's like groping in the dark."  While medical students must use models and cadavers to simulate operating on patients, the University of BotswanaÕs medical school has neither models nor cadavers.  Without equipment, the learning environment there is made more barren by lack of legislation on handling of cadavers.