Guyanese Cardiologist replaces Indian national at CHI

Nov 28, 2012 News

Having taken up the reins of the Caribbean Heart Institute (CHI) just three weeks ago, Cardiologist, Dr. Mahendra Carpen, has been helping to fulfil the mandate of the medical facility to improve the quality of cardiac care.

CHI’s new Resident Cardiologist, Dr. Mahendra Carpen.

Backed by the able staff of the facility, which is situated in the compound of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), Dr. Carpen has already attended to more than 70 patients. He has replaced Indian-national Pratik Soni, a reputable Interventional Cardiologist, who has for two years aided the efforts of CHI’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Gary Stephens, to make cardiac procedures a reality in Guyana.
As Medical Director and Consultant Cardiologist to CHI and the GPHC, Dr. Carpen is serving a dual role which amplifies the importance of public/private partnership in the quest to improve medical services.
He has an ambitious plan to ensure that CHI “grows and becomes accessible not only to patients who can readily pay and afford health care, but even those who have some challenges. We want this service to remain available through various means so people can get access to it without delay or defective care.”
Moreover, part of the operational goal of CHI is to create a sustainable link between the public and private sectors.
According to Dr. Carpen, “GPHC and CHI are working together towards a common goal of providing quality health care to the population.”
The relatively young cardiac expert said that CHI is poised to ensure that the goal is achieved since it is furnished with people who are not only well trained but are also very enthusiastic and willing to learn.
Turning his attention to the infrastructure, he noted that while it is adequate, it is not at the level of the best that is available. However he did assert that “we are better than the worse that’s available so we are somewhere in the middle and we get work done with what we have. Our potential I think is the greatest; we have the population and we have the pathology and the resources that we can put in place so that the service could go on.”
A Guyanese in every sense of the word, Dr. Carpen during an interview revealed that he left Guyana in 2002 after completing his medical studies at the University of Guyana and serving four years of a required five-year stint at the GPHC. His departure saw him heading to Jamaica to undertake studies in Internal Medicine where he met now deceased Guyanese Professor, Charles Denbow, who among others encouraged him to pursue further studies in Canada.
Driven by the passion to become one of the best in the field, the then budding doctor headed to Canada to gain knowledge in General Cardiology. Subsequently, he was accepted at the University of Toronto to do Interventional Cardiology.
By 2011 he was fuelled enough to land a prestigious post at any top-rating medical institution but considered himself “lucky” to gain placement at a top Cardiology Institute in Boston to study a very specific field of cardiology called Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology. This latest field of study basically deals with heart rhythms particularly when a patient’s heart skips a beat, is too fast or too slow. “I was fortunate during my training to do both Interventional Cardiology and Electrophysiology…I am that person, at least locally, to deal with those things now…”
Equipped with a winning resumé, Dr. Carpen, ahead of returning to Guyana, was understandably eligible for quite a few enticing offers. He was initially drawn to Jamaica as his wife hails from that Caribbean territory.
“I saw it as an easy way to turn,” said the Cardiologist, who intimated that a pretty good offer was being extended. However, before he could sign the dotted lines, Dr Stephens in a most subtle but convincing way intercepted the anticipated move.
“He made contact with me in a rather simple way. He was like ‘How are you doing? How are your studies progressing? He (Dr Stephens) is such a very, very nice man and this country and health care on the whole owes him a debt of gratitude. I am sure he would feel differently, but the reality is that he created something here that I think will be beneficial to Guyanese not just now, but for the future,” Dr. Carpen confidently posited yesterday even as he insisted that he was “…happy, I feel honoured to be giving back to my country.”