The MUHAS Chancellor and the former President of the United Republic of Tanzania H.E Alhaj Ali Hassan Mwinyi conferred Diplomas and degrees to 1,146 graduates at the 14th Graduation Ceremony.
In this event 251 graduands were conferred diplomas and advanced diplomas, 549 were conferred first degrees and 333 master degrees in different fields of health and allied health sciences. In addition, there were 9 graduands of master of science super specialties and 4 graduands who were conferred doctor of philosophy (PhD) degree.
Speaking during the graduation ceremony, the Chairman of the MUHAS Council, Dr. Harrison Mwakyembe congratulated the students for their good performance which made the graduation ceremony possible this year and appreciated Professors, Lecturers and MUHAS staffs in general for their support and contributions to the students’ performances.
He further thanked the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania through the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology for the continued support to MUHAS that enables smooth accomplishment of its tasks.
The MUHAS Vice Chancellor, Prof. Andrea Pembe congratulated Dr. Harrison Mwakyembe for being appointed the Chairman of MUHAS Council and promised full support and cooperation for the development of the University. Prof. Pembe also thanked Ms. Mariam Mwaffisi for her support, contributions and guidance during her tenure as the Chairperson of MUHAS Council.
Moreover, the Vice Chancellor explained that knowing the importance of increasing the number of health professionals in various fields in line with national demand, during the academic year 2020/2021, the University established 11 new programs that are demand driven. He mentioned these as MSc Cardiothoracic Surgery; MSc Super specialty in Cardiothoracic Anaesthesia and Critical Care, MSc Critical Care Medicine, MSc Paediatric Surgery, MSc Nephrology Nursing, MSC Oncology Nursing, MSc Cardiovascular Nursing, MDent Orthodontics, MSc Health Economics and Policy as well as MPH Implementation Science.
In addition, Prof. Pembe emphasized on the importance of expansion of the University. He said that the number of applicants who have met the criteria to be enrolled at MUHAS keeps on increasing yearly. However, a very small percentage of these students are selected to join the University due to the inadequate space and facilities for teaching and learning.
He further explained that for this academic year 2020/2021 out of 3,558 applicants who were qualified to join the Doctor of Medicine (MD) programme at MUHAS only 230 were selected, and this is the maximum number that the University can admit in this programme along with the available teaching infrastructure.
“It is our hope that developing the Mloganzila Campus will be accorded priority in order to increase the number of students enrolled and therefore increase the number of human resources produced for health sector in the country”, He added.
The 14th MUHAS Graduation Ceremony took place on 5th of December 2020 at the Muhimbili Campus and was preceded by the Prize Giving Ceremony for the Academic Year 2019/2020 on Friday, 4th December, 2020.
