The Ministry of Health and Wellness says its recently announced J$2.5-billion Dr Barry Wint Memorial Scholarship will open for applications on Monday (July 8), providing new opportunities for Jamaicans to have their public health studies financed by the Government.

The introduction of the scholarship was announced by Minister Dr Christopher Tufton during his contribution to the 2024-25 Sectoral Debate in Parliament in May.

The scholarship – named in honour of Dr Barry Wint, a former chief medical officer – is open to Jamaicans pursuing studies in medical technology, human resources for health, medical social work, epidemiology, medical physics, health records management, hospital/health care management, information systems for health, pharmacy, dentistry and health economics as well as nursing and medicine, among other areas.

“These are some of the critical groups that we need to fill the gaps in our human resource requirements. We cannot restrict the movement of labour, but we certainly can collaborate with other institutions and jurisdictions to train more people and hopefully share their skill sets between different institutions and jurisdictions,” the minister said, in announcing the scholarship on May 7.

“We have to do more to train and retain, including accepting that we also train for export, and this will have to include collaboration with external partners, including institutions outside of Jamaica,” Tufton added.

Applications for the scholarship, which makes available up to J$1 million per recipient for up to five years, can be accessed online. The portal will close on July 31.

Recipients will be bonded to work in the public health system for a period. 

Additionally, the ministry is exploring the possibility of flexi-contract arrangements for healthcare workers to be trained jointly across jurisdictions and institutions. Overseas clinical rotations and remote faculty for expanded training in these medical areas are also being examined.