Monrovia — The Nyan Scholarship Program (NSP), sponsored by the acclaimed Liberian biomedical scientist and inventor, Dr. Dougbeh Christopher Nyan, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the SOS-Liberia to collaborate in training of professional nurses for the Liberian healthcare system.
The MOU enables the NSP to place its nurse-graduates at the SOS Medical Center for clinical internships in addition to internship placements at the Harbel Firestone Du-Side Hospital in Margibi County and the SDA Cooper Memorial Hospital in Monrovia.
"I am very pleased about the Nyan Scholarship Program collaborations with the various medical entities in providing practical and skill training for our nurses in the country, and this is setting a high standard for in-country training of medical professionals," Dr. Nyan said.
He added that, "we do like to thank Mr. Prosper N'dione, Country Director of the SOS-Liberia and Dr. Lamine Cisse, the Medical Director of the SOS Medical Center for the opportunity to collaborate in training professional nurses for the Liberian healthcare delivery system."
SOS ("Societas Socialis") Children's Villages was established in 1949 after World War II by a young Austrian medical student, Hermann Gmeiner, to cater to abandoned children and orphans. The organization is active in 136 countries and territories, including Liberia where the SOS Children's Village-Liberia has been catering to the health, educational, and developmental welfare of children, and strengthening families since 1981 through its core programs and medical center.
Under the new MOU, three 2022 nurse-graduates, namely Diamond Wesseh, Musu Dunn, and Carmella Pierre, are currently placed at the SOS Medical Center in Congo Town, Monrovia for internship as volunteers, while one graduate, Salomie David, is at the SDA Cooper Memorial Hospital for clinical internship rotation.
The four NSP-sponsored nurses earned their bachelor of science degrees in nursing (BSN) from the Winfred J. Harley College of Health Sciences of the United Methodist University and licensed by the Liberian Board of Nurses.
About 9 additional NSP-sponsored students (Varlee Kamara, John Bestman, Jamie Alpha, Wilfred Barjaye, Philip Nowiney, P. Christopher Jallah, Otis Darbeh, Victoria Quitee, Dianna Clay) who are graduating seniors of the Diana Kay Isaacson School of Midwifery in Grand Gedeh County, have been assigned at various hospitals in Southeastern Liberia for clinical affiliations.
During the past four years, the NSP has been sponsoring and training a cohort of about 35 students in the healthcare fields of nursing, midwifery, and in public health at the United Methodist University, Kampala International University, the University of Liberia, and the Diana Kay Isaacson School of Nursing and Midwifery.
The Nyan Scholarship Program (NSP) is a highly competitive scholastic program established since 2002 by Dr. Dougbeh Christopher Nyan in honour of his grandfather, the legendary warrior, orator, and oral-historian, Jack Sunday Saah-Nyan. The scholarship program has privately sponsored the educational process of an array of students in medicine, nursing, midwifery, and public health since then and is administered by Ginette Adelyn Sowu-Nyan, Randolph Ben-Davies, Grace Jarsoh, and Tepenty Young.
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The sponsor, Dr. Dougbeh Christopher Nyan, is the globally acclaimed inventor of the Rapid Multiplex Real-Time Pathogen Diagnostic Test (the NYAN TEST) which detects and simultaneously identifies 3 to 7 infections using just one test.
During the last two semesters, Dr. Nyan served as an unpaid volunteer visiting professor who taught and lectured at various academic and medical institutions in Liberia and Ghana in the fields of biology, medicine, laboratory science, and public health. He is currently Chief Medical and Scientific Officer of Shufflex Biomed, his start-up company that develops multiplex diagnostic testing kits.
