Moi University Holds Virtual Graduation
Congratulations to the Moi University School of Health Sciences students who completed their studies and graduated on December 10. The ceremony was conducted virtually for the first time due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As of Friday, December 18, Kenya had confirmed 93,761 positive cases and 1,629 deaths due to the virus.
Dr. Julia Songok, associate dean for the School of Medicine, participated in the graduation ceremonies which also included in-person presentation of a limited number of advanced degrees. The School of Medicine graduated 177 trainees including four scholars receiving PhDs, two clinical fellows in gynecologic oncology, 42 Master of Medicine (MMED) students, 103 Bachelor of Medicine (MBchB) students and 26 Bachelor of Science in Medical Psychology students.
Dr. Songok recognized the 30-year anniversary of the medical school which admitted the first class of students in 1990. The collaboration with Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital and AMPATH partners have endured since the founding of the medical school. She added that the philosophy of the school “entails training health professionals in the context of the community in which they serve, which in this case is Kenya, but also globally.”
The School of Medicine has fifteen departments with 774 undergraduate and 471 post-graduate learners. Problem-based learning and effective communication are two foundations of the school. Dr. Songok noted that alumni serve in top positions within the country and internationally within the health and education sectors and non-governmental agencies.
She concluded her remarks by saying, “Congratulations, we are proud of you and please proceed to serve the nation and also the world.”
Other leaders in the Moi College of Health Sciences also participated in the ceremony.
Dr. Dinah Chelagat, dean of School of Nursing and Midwifery, which became its own school in 2011, emphasized the school’s commitment to problem-based and integrated learning, improving care through research and evidenced-based trainings.
The school recently completed an evidenced-based midwifery training in Uasin Gishu County so that clients in rural areas get the same care as those in town. “We want to cascade this best practice down to the community where we have our mothers going in to give birth,” Dr. Chelagat said.
She added that alumni hold leadership positions in the country and internationally. The school celebrated 33 undergraduate and three master degree graduates.
Professor Mabel Nangami, dean of the School of Public Health, lauded eleven Master of Public Health and eleven Master of Science in field epidemiology graduates. “Public health is a distinguished field and now in the time of COVID-19, we do know and realize that this has brought out the importance of the role of public health in the world,” she said.
She outlined important areas of public health including: protection of health at individual, household, population and society levels; healthy lifestyles and non-communicable disease prevention; detection, prevention and response to infectious illness; and research on diseases and injury prevention.
“Public health is a global discipline. As you graduate as a public health professional, we would love you to think of yourself as a global citizen--meaning that you are going to engage, not just in Kenya, you are going to engage across borders.”
Portions of the live and recorded ceremony are available to view on the Moi University Facebook page.