By Abraham Ariyo
Tristate College of Health and Medical Sciences, a Hillside University of Science and Technology division, will open its doors to the first batch of students today, March 18, 2024.
‘It has been a long journey. Well, here we are,’ said the Provost of the new College of Health and Medical Sciences, Professor Kamar Adeleke, an American-trained Interventional Cardiologist and former Chief of Cardiology at Christiana Health Systems in Delaware, U.S.A.
The new College consists of eleven schools including medical, dental, pharmacy, optometry, and nursing schools, among others.
While the physical, academic campus is located in Okemesi in Ekiti State, its clinical teaching affiliated hospitals will include medical centers in Nigeria and rotations abroad. The clinical rotation facilities in Nigeria will be in Ekiti, Oshun, Oyo, Kano, and Lagos states.
Internationally, students of Tristate College of Health and Medical Sciences will have opportunities to rotate at University Medical Centers in countries that included United States, United Kingdom, Germany, India, and Turkey.
‘This College is unique, it’s the first of its kind in Nigeria.’ Professor Adeleke affirms that after graduation with MBBS, graduates of this Medical School will continue straight into post graduate specialties of their choices in collaboration with National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria, leading to MSC, MD, and Fellowship of NPMCN.
The aim is to reverse the ‘JAPA syndrome’ by providing alternative to migrating abroad for training by creating home-breed physicians in various medical Specialties that will serve the Nigerian population.
Professor Adeleke intends to produce world-class physicians and surgeons who will be future healthcare professionals and leaders. He credits this development to the welcoming and enabling environment of physicians in Diaspora by the new Ministers at the Ministry of Health, Honorable Professor Muhammad Pate and Dr. Tunji Alausa, who acted on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s vision of unlocking and unleashing the potential of the diaspora health professionals in reinvigorating and overhauling the Nigerian healthcare system.