The evolution of undergraduate medical training at the University of the West Indies, 1948-2008.

1948–1977 (Following tradition) The story of the early development of The University of the West Indies (UWI) and the first 33 medical students who entered the fledgling University College back in 1948 is well documented (1–3). The plans which led to the development of a medical school in the colonies began in London during the turbulent years of World War II. Against a background of reconstruction and development, the United Kingdom Universities established a special commission in 1944 to see about the promotion of higher education, learning and research, and the development of universities in the colonies. In January 1947, at the first meeting of the University College’s Provisional Council, it was decided to site the new college at Mona in Jamaica on lands encompassing the original boundaries of three sugar estates, remnants of which can still be seen. The first students were housed and taught in the wooden buildings of the Gibraltar Camp which had been constructed during World War II to house refugees from Gibraltar and Malta as well as German and Italian prisoners of war. In 1947, it had been agreed that the Camp should be vacated and handed over for the use of the new university. The University College of the West Indies was only one of several colonial medical schools to be established by Britain at that time. The same pattern and thinking was applied to schools established in the Gold Coast, Nigeria, Rhodesia and Uganda, though ours was the first to produce graduates. The Evolution of Undergraduate Medical Training at The University of the West Indies, 1948–2008 JM Branday, RA Carpenter