A memorandum of understanding was signed on Thursday, 28th December 2017 between Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, Chennai, India and American International Medical University, Gros Islet, Saint Lucia. SIMATS offers courses in a variety of disciplines ranging from , Dentistry ,Medicine, allied health,nursing ,Engineering ,Law and Management while American International Medical University offers courses in medicine and nursing. The Memorandum was signed by Dr Deepak Nallaswamy, Director of Academics on behalf of SIMATS and by Dr P Ravi Shankar, the Associate Dean of Medicine on behalf of American International Medical University. The Associate Dean for International Affairs at Saveetha Dental College & Hospitals Ms T Lakshmi facilitated the process.

The MoU provides the framework for cooperation and collaboration between the two universities. Among the proposed areas of academic collaboration are faculty exchange, student exchange, research collaboration and collaborating on projects with other universities as and when required. Both parties also agreed to explore the possibility of working together (along with other universities) to offer certificate level online courses to students in various areas.

Following the signing of the MOU, Dr Shankar, an honorary visiting faculty at Saveetha Dental College facilitated CDE Programme with two Interactive sessions .The first session was on ‘Misconceptions and misuse of medicines in developing countries’ while the second session was on ‘Health humanities’. Dr Shankar also facilitated a faculty development session on ‘Self-directed learning’ on Friday, 29th December 2017. It is hoped that the signing of the MOU will set the stage for initiating academic and research collaboration between the two universities.