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Guyana gets 20-plus new doctors
Twenty-one new doctors and a pharmacist were yesterday officially added to the Ministry of Health cadre of health professionals, a move which is expected to further boost the quality of health care.
Following an orientation session at Cara Lodge, Quamina Street, Georgetown, yesterday, the group of young professionals were registered and assigned to health facilities.
Minister of Health, Dr. Bheri Ramsaran in recognising the achievement of the recent graduates, warned that they were being registered on the basis that they would have made themselves familiar with the way things are done locally.
Some of the new health professionals
Of the 21 doctors, two were trained in Russia, while the remainder obtained their medical knowledge in Cuba which has over the years facilitated training of the largest volume of Guyanese medical students.
In underlining his expectation that the young doctors’ integration into the health system would be seamless and smooth, Minister Ramsaran said that “the Ministry of Health will undertake the necessary workshops, continuing medical education and training sessions in this early period to assist you…Your job is to see that you hunger for that knowledge and that you attend these sessions.”
According to the Minister, it is crucial that the young doctors recognise the importance of the rules, regulations and laws that govern the medical practice. He added that reporting of maternal and ‘Under Five’ deaths are features that the administration takes seriously.
The official pointed out to the young professionals that things like safe motherhood is in fact an indicator of how healthy the public health system is. “These are things that you need to know quickly…and we will provide the platform for you to do so but you have to meet us half way on that path to giving you this knowledge.”
Minister Ramsaran also reminded the recent graduates of their scholarship status which requires that they serve Guyana and not merely the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation. “We are saying this up front immediately because this is where very quickly the honeymoon period disappears when there is a refusal by young people to serve…they want to ‘mold-up’ at the Georgetown Public Hospital or in their village and all manner of pretexts…”
According to the Minister, the young doctors are expected to serve in areas as far as Mahdia, Bartica, Paramakatoi or wherever a Guyanese patient lives and requires medical care.
The young doctors will for the next 18 months have to undergo a mandatory rotation period at the Georgetown and New Amsterdam hospitals. The two facilities, the Minister said, are capable of grooming the young doctors and breaking them into the health system.
In delivering remarks yesterday too, Director of Regional Health Services, Dr. Irv Chan revealed that the plan of the administration is to have the new professionals supervised by seasoned doctors already in the system. This move is to better guide them as they become better doctors and to give them the necessary knowledge that is needed at this critical juncture of their careers. “Many persons when they graduate as doctors believe that they have arrived and that they know it all but that is certainly not the case. I personally can say that there are a number of things when you go out into the communities you’d be faced with and you will be challenged to find out what is the actual diagnosis.”
“You do have to read research and also consult and there are many ways you can do that – via internet or calling a colleague in Georgetown to give you that support to help you to recognise things that you might not have seen…”
The young professionals also benefited from a presentation by Chief Medical Officer, Dr Shamdeo Persaud, who stressed their importance to the health sector. He emphasised in his presentation that doctors as the premier health professional are trained with a view of complementing other levels of health workers.
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