A brilliant neurosurgeon and an undeniable patriot… Dr. Amarnauth Dukhi is a ‘Special Person’

Sep 29, 2019 News, Special Person

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“Serving humanity could be done in any part of the world, but what better way to do it than in your own country…so I thought that whatever expertise I gain, I would prefer to come back and help my homeland. If I had to do it all over again, I would do it the same way without changing anything.”

By Sharmain Grainger

Although he credits his decision to delve into one of the most impressive fields of the medical profession to divine intervention, Dr. Amarnauth Dukhi’s down-to-earth persona ensures he remains one of the humblest individuals you will ever meet.

Skilled as a neurosurgeon, he is one of the most sought after specialists in both the local public and private health sectors. Although he could have long taken his extraordinary skills to a more developed country and easily excelled, Dr. Dukhi has opted to remain patriotic and cater to the needs of those within his homeland, and with good reason too.
You see, he is living the dream he had many years ago as a young boy growing up in the Ancient County of Berbice. He dreamt of himself helping to restore health to those who, before his skills were readily available, would have had to travel overseas for continuous care or face the worst possible fate – death.
Because of his patriotism, Guyana remains home to one of the most extraordinary neurosurgeons that has ever graced this part of the world. Since being inducted into the local health system as a neurosurgeon back in 2015, he has conducted hundreds of life-saving procedures, through which he has been able to make a remarkable name for himself.

It goes without saying that becoming such a phenomenal medical professional was certainly not a walk in the park. Rather, it took years of studying, dedication, unwavering family support, and prayers in abundance, for him to ascend to the plateau of medical intelligence where he now dwells.
But what makes this neurosurgeon a cut above the rest is his naturally suave appearance and soothing voice which would make just about anyone willing to surrender to his surgical knife. In fact, he can boast of an almost 90 percent success rate since delving into this field of medicine.
FORMATIVE YEARS
Born and raised at Skeldon, Corriverton in Berbice to parents Bisnauth and Sabitri Dukhi, Dr. Dukhi is older brother to one sister – Surika.
He attended Corriverton Primary School and completed the next level of his education at Skeldon Line Path Secondary. He was among the top three performers when he wrote the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) exams.
He reflected during this interview, that it was even before completing his secondary education, that he had a desire to become a doctor. “When I was seven years old, I vividly recalled that my grandfather was ill and we didn’t have appropriate and adequate medical care at the Skeldon Hospital…I saw the suffering of my grandparents because of sickness, and as a little boy, I told my parents when I grow up, I will ensure that people don’t have to be sick anymore. From then, I just knew that I wanted to help people,” Dr. Dukhi recounted.

This certainly wasn’t an empty promise.
But becoming a physician as he had planned was not an easy process, especially since he was barely 15 when he graduated from high school and therefore wasn’t old enough to be accepted to pursue Medicine at the University of Guyana [UG].
BECOMING A DOCTOR
Although he wasn’t yet eligible to pursue Medicine, he was accepted at UG to undertake the Biology/Biochemistry programme. In the midst of his studies, Dr. Dukhi recalled that his family decided to migrate to the United States, but he opted to stay behind. When he finally completed his studies, he was 19 years old and was ready to explore the options available for him to become a doctor.
Although now eligible to pursue Medicine at UG, he became aware that the Caricom Secretariat was offering scholarships for persons to study in Cuba, and so he decided to apply. This meant that he had to compete with other Caribbean students and, according to Dr. Dukhi, “fortunate for me, I was one of four Guyanese to be selected for a Caricom scholarship”.
The scholarship was of such a nature that Caricom would pay all the necessary fees, but the recipient students’ respective governments would be required to provide them with a stipend. But unfortunately for the four Guyanese students of that year, the government of the day was unable to provide this support. “If we were to go on this scholarship, we would have to finance the stipend ourselves…that was a bit disappointing, but I consulted with my parents and they said go for it, they would support me,” Dr. Dukhi recalled.

The scholarship, nevertheless, required the beneficiary students to sign an agreement with government to return and serve after completing the programme. However, since government did not provide financial support, only a two-year contract, instead of the customary five-year contract, was signed.
COUNTRY OVER SELF
He was able to study medicine at a university in Cuba, with 37 different nationalities, and at the end of the programme, he emerged the most outstanding of his class, thereby allowing him to be named among the top 10 graduates of 2006. This of course made him eligible for a full scholarship to complete post-graduate studies at a university of his choice.
But since his scholarship represented part of an agreement with government, Dr. Dukhi recalled that he was not able to immediately take advantage of his post-graduate scholarship. “I had to return home to serve my two years and I served both at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation in Obstetrics and Gynaecology and at the New Amsterdam Hospital in Orthopaedics and General Medicine,” Dr. Dukhi recalled.

Recognising that there was no scope for him to advance his capabilities here, Dr. Dukhi decided to resign, with every intent of joining his family overseas, after fulfilling his two-year contractual obligation to the very best of his ability. However, by then he was already making a notable impact in the public health system, so much so, that a government official appealed for him to stay on.
“I complied with the request; I had to, because I knew there was a need,” Dr. Dukhi recalled. Soon after a bilateral government agreement was invoked allowing him to utilise the scholarship, which he had earned by virtue of his outstanding performance in Cuba.
Although it took an enormous amount of persuading, in the end he was able to convince his parents that it was important for him to choose country over self.
“Serving humanity could be done in any part of the world, but what better way to do it than in your own country…so I thought that whatever expertise I gain, I would prefer to come back and help my homeland. If I had to do it all over again, I would do it the same way without changing anything,” Dr. Dukhi intimated.
DIVINE INSPIRATION
He has no regrets for making the decision he made five years ahead of inking an agreement with government to pursue studies to become the skillful neurosurgeon he is today. But what is particularly interesting to note is that he didn’t leave to pursue post graduate studies in neurosurgery.

“I requested orthopaedic surgery; that was what I was doing at the New Amsterdam Hospital, and I was already versed in doing that, but one night I just got this divine inspiration, and neurosurgery was in my head…I truly believe it was God’s work; God inspired me to do this, and from that moment on, I never looked back,” said Dr. Dukhi.
Once he made his decision to change to neurosurgery, Dr. Dukhi was given the privilege to study at one of the best neuro-trauma facilities in Havana – the General Calixto García University Hospital.
It didn’t take long for Dr. Dukhi to realise that the decision to change to neurosurgery was an excellent one as, according to him, while there were visiting physicians lending their support to Guyana, the local capacity for neurosurgery was “almost zero”. “I knew during my training what I was going to return to, and so I guided my preparation, during my residency, knowing that I would not have someone next to me to ask what next to do when I returned…So I always tried to work alone and dealt with complications alone. I was preparing to come back home and work alone, so I created that environment during my residency,” Dr. Dukhi explained.
Although bursting at the seams with new skills, Dr. Dukhi admitted that his return home to undertake such a complex specialty was indeed a bit nerve-racking at first. It, however, didn’t take him long to adjust his thinking to the importance of his role, which eventually gave him the drive to groove right in.

FOCUSED AND COMMITTED
Today Dr. Dukhi, who has also since received training in the US and England too, is the Head of Neurosurgery at the country’s premier public health institution – the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation [GPHC], and he also offers his services at the privately-operated Dr. Balwant Singh’s, Woodlands and St. Joseph Mercy Hospitals.
He has been able to perform from spinal cord to brain aneurysm surgeries, and age is certainly not a challenge, as his hands are steady enough to operate for hours on newborns, the elderly, and all others in between. In fact, he is recognised as the first neurosurgeon in South America to conduct the Vault C Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion System implant surgery. This procedure is done to help restore the motor skills of paralysed and partially paralysed patients.
Memories of most of the cases he has attended to, he holds close to his heart since, according to him, “nothing is easy in neurosurgery…but there are quite a few cases that I have had to give everything I have to achieve successful results”. This therefore means that he never attempts a single procedure without saying a prayer to the Supreme Being for guidance.
But according to Dr. Dukhi, neurosurgeons are exposed to such a depth of training that “we can never be scared of anything; whatever you put in front of us, we are supposed to be able to deal with it…they actually tell you in training that there is God, then there are neurosurgeons. You are taught to not be afraid of anything and to always be calm,” he added.
Being single certainly gives him the latitude to be on call 24/7, and this is aided by technology, when he is required to travel overseas.
Although he doesn’t mind practising neurosurgery every chance he gets, he does take some alone time to clear his head. This he does by driving long distances at times. Other extra-curricular activities such as “gymming” on a regular basis, shooting hoops, cricket and table tennis, help him to keep his youthful appearance intact.
But his work, he admitted, is certainly the highlight of his life. To keep focused and committed, he said, “I try to separate work from external stress; I align myself in such a way that my work is my priority…I can do that right now because I am not married and I don’t have kids, but I’m sure if I do, and I do hope to marry and have kids someday, they will also become my priority, but as it is now, my work remains my priority.”
In fact, his work is such a priority that Dr. Dukhi has already started to consider the future of neurosurgery in Guyana. As such, he has started to forge strategic collaborations to create a foundation for young doctors to be trained as neurosurgeons. His hope is to ensure that “this country will never again be without an in-house physician who will be able to offer proper and adequate neurosurgical care to our people…this is the legacy that I hope to leave when I retire.”
For being a dedicated and extraordinary neurosurgeon in this dear land of ours, today we at Kaieteur News bestow Dr. Amarnauth Dukhi with the deserving title of our ‘Special Person’.

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