Over the decades, the intake of medical students and the students who are applying for the Medical Faculty of the University of Jaffna have increased, but the improvement of the available teaching and learning facilities, at some points, did not correspond with the intake. In addition to that mismatch, the increased academic workload, the unavailability of a cost effective healthy diet and limited facilities to overcome loneliness make some of the medical students feel stressed.
Considering the matter, it was decided to organise a focal point to provide remedial actions to reduce the medical students' mental stress and to facilitate their learning and teaching activities as the “Students' Well-being Centre”, which was inaugurated by the Vice Chancellor (VC) of the Jaffna University, Prof. S. Srisatkunarajah in 2022.
Closer to its first anniversary, the wellbeing centre was able to achieve its objective of ensuring the well-being of students, while it was also able to go a step ahead and make the students aware of the drug menace, a serious issue that the country faces at present.
The wellbeing centre is currently functioning by adapting an approach with the cascade effect methodology, which focuses on three major concepts, namely, effective resource management, the integration of available academic programmes such as quizzes and debates, and enhancing the active participation of medical students in the local community through various means.
It also provides facilities such as study areas, reading spaces, movie nights, indoor games, teaching and learning sessions for first year medical students through freshly passed out graduates, mentoring sessions, counselling sessions, art competitions, career guidance sessions, professional development discussions, and workshops and seminars.
In addition, students can also be involved in the beautification of the wellbeing centre and they can engage in gardening activities around the area. This gardening programme helps to provide freshly harvested vegetables and fruits to the faculty's canteen daily, thereby enabling the provision of a balanced and healthy diet to the students.
The gardening project also enhances the environment around the faculty premises, which in turn helps the students to engage in their academic activities peacefully. Several farmers living around the faculty are also supporting the students by giving vegetable and fruit seeds and fertiliser, and teaching farming techniques which the students are mostly unaware of.
Most interestingly, this wellbeing centre is effectively functioning without any external support. It is managed by the student representatives from the current batches of students, freshly passed out graduates and academic staff who are interested. Under the guidance of the Dean of the faculty, Prof. R. Surenthirakumaran, five demonstrators were appointed recently, and they are tasked with improving the services of the well-being centre.
The programmes that it implements to improve the community wellbeing, particularly concerning those who are addicted to various types of drugs, are also commendable. It is also hoping to implement health promotion programmes at prisons and probationary schools, and to launch healthy lifestyle clinics at primary care centres, and tele-health services.
Towards the objective of enhancing the facilities, it has been planned to allocate a separate floor in the new six storey building for the well-being centre with modern facilities such as a medical centre, a gymnasium and a cafeteria including a dining and self service tea making area. The allocation of such a space will also be of support to improve the academic and professional development sessions conducted by the centre.
Meanwhile, understanding several issues concerning eliminating the drug menace in the country such as the lack of motivation to make changes, social stigma, issues in maintaining confidentiality, limitations of resources and inadequate integration, the well-being centre – under the guidance of Prof. Surenthirakumaran, Coordinator of the well-being Centre, Senior Lecturer and Consultant Urological Surgeon Dr. B. Balagobi and Clinical Coordinator of the well-being centre, Senior Lecturer and Consultant Family Physician Dr. S. Kumaran – organised a forum under the topic “Drug abuse and well-being”. The keynote speakers at the event, which was held in December 2022, were Prof. Srisatkunarajah, Attorney and former Commissioner of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, Ambika Satkunanathan, Jaffna Magistrate A. A. Anandarajah and Consultant Psychiatrist Dr. T. Umaharan.
(The writer is a fourth year medical student of the Jaffna University’s Faculty of Medicine.)