Latest update November 8th, 2024 1:00 AM
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Georgetown American Medical University signs partnership with New York Hospital
By Jarryl Bryan
Georgetown American University, located in Bel Air Park, recently signed a landmark agreement
Wyckoff Medical Centre
with Wyckoff Heights Medical Centre, New York that will see students being granted the opportunity to complete their residency programmes at the overseas institution.
This comes on the heel of several unsuccessful attempts from the medical institution to arrange a similar programme with the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).
The residency programme is a crucial step in the career of a young medical doctor looking to launch his/her career. It is a period of advanced medical training and education that normally follows graduation from medical school and licensing to practice medicine which consists of supervised practice of a specialty in a hospital and in its outpatient department and instruction from specialists on the hospital staff.
Currently medical students at the local university are only being offered placements, through recently negotiated agreements, at the Davis Memorial hospital and the Caribbean Heart Institute in the GPHC compound.
Chief Executive Officer of the Medical School, Dr. Melissa Varswyk expounded on the hardship they faced in getting the nod of approval from GPHC, despite recently gaining their accreditation from the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO).
She however stated that the institution has managed to create an environment of private medical learning which presents an attractive option for young people dreaming of a
Students at the Georgetown American University.
medical career. “I have been a part of medical school systems for approximately two years prior to partnering with this institution and one thing I do know is that medical schools are a business first and students interests after…So we want to flip that script and make it pro- students and then a business second. So we made sure we went through all the paperwork before we opened our doors.
“The MD program is four years. The first two are done here and the final two are in a clinical setting, whereby they would go into the hospitals.”
According to her, the school does not only offer the Medical Doctor (MD) programme, but also nursing and dentistry. She also revealed that the institution may be centered in the medical field for now, but expects to branch off into different areas the next couple years. This newspaper was shown the building projection for the near future.
Dr. Varswyk revealed plans for the institution to also seek Caribbean based medical institutions to expand their residency base.
When contacted Chief Executive Officer of GPHC Michael Khan refused to comment on the residency issue.
Georgetown American University has been registered in Guyana since 2013 and officially opened its doors in June of 2014, after signing up to with the National Accreditation Council.
The three cycles of registration for the MD programme are in January, May and September. Financial aid is available for local students. The institution also offers full and partial scholarships.
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