Eleven students from the School of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, have received MB/ChB degrees, after successfully completing their seven-year long programme at the University of The Gambia (UTG).

The graduates - comprised 10 male and one female - are the first batch of home trained qualified doctors from the UTG. They were Dr Abba Hydara, Dr Sheikh Omar Bittaye, Dr Mustapha Bittaye, Dr Kebba S Bojang, Dr Abubacarr Jagne, Dr Lamin ES Jaiteh, Dr Abdoulie Keita, Dr Alhagie Manneh, Dr Musa Marena, Dr Ousman Sanyang, and Dr Kinneh Sogur.

At the convocation ceremony last Saturday, President Yahya Jammeh, who pioneered the creation of the School of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, has prophesied that the programme is achievable.

President Jammeh said the young doctors have made history, saying “we look up to them as pioneers in our national drive to uplift the health status of all Gambians, by making health services accessible to all.” He then gave a word of advice. “The Gambian tax payers have sacrificed a lot to bring you to this day. Be prepared to serve them to the very end of your professional lives. Do not ever neglect them and their families, and, above all, do not abandon them for your own personal needs and interest.”

The Gambian leader congratulated and thanked those who disposed their time, energy, intellect and resources, to bring the idea of the medical school to fruition. He also thanked them for putting the young Gambian doctors through the exacting programme of training, which members of their profession must be subjected to, before being certified fit to heal the sick and minister to the suffering.

See the pictorial on the UTG graduation on page 10 and 13.