Dear Editor,
I have read a few letters on whether Dr Vishwamintra Persaud should be allowed to practice medicine in Guyana. Please permit me to interject my thoughts on this issue.
Dr Persaud was trained in the USA. I have first-hand knowledge on the intensive effort and long hours Dr Persaud endured in earning his medical degree since my son is a board-certified doctor who was also trained in the USA.
Dr Persaud has confessed that he made a grave error in judgment while he practised medicine in the USA. While no one can or should justify Dr Persaud’s past conduct, we owe it to ourselves to rationally re-think the entire situation. We, as humans, are all guilty of past mistakes, some grave and some minor. As a young physician, Dr Persaud wrongly committed some unprofessional acts.
The question now is do we condemn a person forever for an act that he/she has committed and has since sincerely regretted or should we allow an individual to get a second chance to redeem himself and do what he is trained to do?
I respectfully would propose to the eminent physicians on the Medical Council of Guyana that Dr Persaud is entitled to a second chance on the condition that he is placed on probation for 5 years. Any subsequent and unprofessional conduct by Dr Persaud will immediately lead to his medical licence revocation. Dr Persaud, under close monitoring, can serve Guyana (where there is a shortage of doctors) well for many, many years.
Yours faithfully,
Dr Seeraj Mattai
