Latest update April 4th, 2025 6:13 AM
Family medicine for Guyana
– Caring beyond prescription, giving hope for a better tomorrow
By Krystle Fraser
World Family Doctor Day, 19th May 2016, is an opportunity to highlight and commend family doctors for their contributions to health care for all people around the world.
Since its establishment in 2010 by the by the World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA), family doctors around the world have celebrated this important day by organizing activities and events to acknowledge their contributions in the development of primary health care as well as highlight ongoing health care concerns.
This year the focus is to encourage the cessation of tobacco smoking, decreasing health damage due to the use of tobacco and its products and the promotion of education on the dangers of tobacco use.
One study in the US found that compared to patients who used specialists as their personal doctor, patients who used a primary care physician had 33% lower annual adjusted health care expenditures and lower adjusted mortality.
In both England and the US, each additional primary care physician per 10,000 population is associated with a decrease in mortality of 3-10%, depending on the cause of death.
The importance of health promotion and disease prevention is every day clearer as we see the epidemics of diabetes, hypertension, obesity, mental health disorders and all their complications unfold. Developed countries are able to address these challenges with ever increasing technologies, devices and new medicines.
Lower middle income countries like Guyana however, are burdened economically to deliver the best care. In this setting, population based prevention and health promotion, along with rational and judicious use of limited resources become crucial. In this context, the family doctor must be a competent clinician, familiar with best practices as well as available resources, providing and coordinating the highest level of care.
They can help lower emergency room visits and hospital admission rates, prevent life threatening sequelae of chronic disease and lower healthcare costs by coordinating testing, procedures and follow- up care.
Formal training in family medicine began in Guyana in May 2015 when the MMed. Family Medicine Postgraduate course was launched with a group of six residents. A robust curriculum was developed through the collaboration of the University of Ottawa, University of Guyana and the Institute for Health Science Education.
The programme incorporates local faculty distinguished in their specialties along with visiting family medicine specialists to provide the necessary blend of international best practice and expert opinion for our setting.
Even in the first year of existence of this programme, there have been notable changes in attitudes, perspectives and competencies among residents. One such example would be the enthusiastic uptake of a whole person perspective to health care.
This perspective takes into account more than just the illness, but looks to improve a person’s wellness in all functions of life- social, emotional, physical, and mental.
The willingness to engage patients in a therapeutic relationship has led to the uncovering of underlying mental health issues which would otherwise go unrecognized.
In May 2016 a second cohort of residents were accepted into the programme. And two new health centres, Sophia and Grove, in addition to Enmore and Campbellville, are now the homes of the family medicine programme where residents are working with local staff and the community to reach beyond traditional prescriptive medicine and see them attain the healthier and happier future they hope for.
The Family Medicine Postgraduate programme is set to be the vanguard in defining excellence in primary health care for Guyana.
In this next academic year we look forward to meeting and working with you as we rotate through different clinics, have a shared education event or contact you regarding management of a patient. We are excited to partner with different specialties and facilities.
We hope we can work together with all of you to improve communication and coordination of care for our patients to improve the efficiency and efficacy of all our work (hence our job satisfaction) and ultimately to improve the health and well-being of the people of Guyana.
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