Mount Kenya University has announced plans to expand its medical school as it eyes medical research and teaching as a key growth area.
MKU founder and chairman Simon Gicharu said the university will start making major investments in its College of Health Sciences next year.
Gicharu said this will include stand-alone facilities.
The facility, which will include a new anatomy laboratory, will be a major boost for the medical school.
Students will however continue having access to the Thika Level 5 Hospital and the General Kago Funeral Home, the latter having been refurbished by MKU to a modern morgue.
“ This block will have inbuilt hostel facilities for medical students, classrooms and laboratories, including an anatomy laboratory," Gicharu said.
"The anatomy laboratory will supplement the Thika Level 5 Hospital facility.”
Gicharu was speaking on Friday when the university held its 20th graduation ceremony.
The ceremony was held at the newly commissioned Mwai Kibaki Convention Centre, located at the MKU’s main campus in Thika.
The planned investments in the medical school are in line with planned heavy investments in the area of medical research and teaching.
The university has identified a key growth area in its 10-year 2029 Strategic Plan.
As part of the strategy, the university plans to set up the MKU Cancer Teaching and Referral Hospital.
The new facility will see the school make deeper inroads not just in the country but the region.
MKU College of Health Sciences was in early 2020 ranked the top school of medicine in the region.
The varsity beat the other universities that have been offering medical courses for decades.
MKU scored 82 per cent in an inspection conducted by a joint team of technical health experts from the East African Community Partner States National Medical and Dental Practitioners Regulatory Councils.
In March this year, the first batch of students from MKU Medical School took the hippocratic oath, marking a major milestone for the school established in 2014.
A total of 5,333 students graduated during the graduation ceremony held Friday.
MKU vice-chancellor Deogratius Jaganyi said that this was a major achievement for the students who have had to make major adjustments to their study methods following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Learning was significantly affected last year following measures introduced by the government to contain the spread of Covid-19 in the country.
Even though activities in learning institutions have resumed, institutions are required to exercise great caution.
“We take pride in this significant achievement and acknowledge that this is a manifestation of resilience and synergies emanating from team efforts from all our stakeholders,” Jaganyi said.
