Buea: RHIBMS celebrates defense of pioneer batch of Master’s degree students.

The celebration followed the defense of eleven theses from the institution by students in five different disciplines.

The students, admitted in 2021, under the mentorship of the University of Bamenda included; five in public health, two in pharmacology, two in nursing education, one in midwifery and another in medico-surgical.

One of the candidates, Mbua epse Eben Tambe Yvette Nadu Namondo, who defended her thesis on perspectives of reproductive health information among adolescents in some selected Secondary Schools in Buea municipality, sought to identify knowledge of sexual and reproductive health by the teens. 

She said she embarked on the study “because I realised that teens and young adults easily get pregnant which is a call for concern”.

Speaking to the press after the defence, Prof Bi Suh Atanga Mary, who represented the University of Bamenda, said the different theses defended were problem solving and will be a great addition to knowledge that will guide researchers and professionals in the different disciplines.

“One worked on an integrated application to teach nurses who can do evidence-based practice, which is an innovation we must sell, so that teachers know they can use internet applications to share with students their professional practices from around the world,” Prof Bi Suh Atanga said. 

The success of the students, she said, was a result of the rigorous mentorship from the University of Bamenda. 

“The mentorship process is rigorous, beginning from admitting students, through training and thesis defence. Before we approve a thesis for defence, we ensure the ethics and science are clear,” Prof Bi Suh Atanga explained. 

Addressing the students, she said they expect them to make the difference in their professional areas after studies. 

“We have followed them as students, researchers and people who can influence their professions. For nurses, we want to see a difference in their practice as well as across all the other professional groups,” she added.

For his part, the President of RHIBMS, Eben Tambe Eyong, said he was delighted to have the first students defending their theses after a hectic two-year period of training and mentoring.

 “It has been a hectic process, given that it was our first batch. We were however able to learn and adapt, thanks to our mentoring university, the University of Bamenda. At several levels, they supported and guided us throughout the process. Thus, we are very happy we are finally ending it for the first batch today,” Tambe said.

He also appreciated the mentoring university of Bamenda for the topnotch process that bore the results. 

“The process with the University of Bamenda has been topnotch; from vetting admissions to examination questions and finally to this public defence of eleven candidates,” he added.

Addressing students, he challenged them to remain steadfast ambassadors of their alma mater, by being the best. 

“I encourage the students to continue climbing the academic ladder, because as they say, ‘Learning never ends.’ For those who want to practice, they should ensure they are the best wherever they work,” he continued.

The success of the institution, according to the President, is due to the dedicated lecturers at RHIMBS.

“We have the best lecturers. Most of them are from the University of Bamenda. Those not from there are vetted and approved by them. We try to match theory and practice with 50% on both. Our results speak for itself. We just registered 100% at the HND, where we registered almost 300 candidates,” he said.

After her defence, Mbua epse Eben Tambe Yvette Nadu Namondo, said the training at RHIMBS gave her a wonderful experience. 

“I feel elated today. It was a wonderful stay here at RHIMBS. Despite being the first batch, we had very close monitoring from the University of Bamenda, ensuring we had the best in the training,” Mbua added.

RHIMBS has been training students now for 14 years. The school runs programmes in Nursing Education, Midwifery, Public Health, Medico-surgical, Pharmacology, Paediatrics, Clinical Pharmacology and a host of other programmes.