Twenty-three doctors have now been enrolled in postgraduate residency training programmes for the 2013 academic year as part of a collaborative effort between the Institute of Health Science Foundation and the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation.
Director of the Institute Dr Madan Rambaran, in a brief statement, said there was need to build capacity with highly trained doctors in Guyana. He added that with the evolving nature of medical education, the first degree was not a sufficient qualification for independent practice. “In as much as we had specialty care in our hospital, the bulk of our care was delivered by doctors who had earned their first degrees and then were sent out into the communities. We then looked at models from North America and decided to adopt this model of having the residency programmes,” he said.
Congratulating the new residents, Rambaran noted that this was yet another milestone for the hospital and that it ultimately wants all of the residents to be well trained to provide the best health care.
Among the programmes being offered are Surgery, Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Emergency Medicine, Anaesthesia, Paediatrics and Orthopaedics. They will be delivered at the Georgetown Public Hospital in partnership with several universities and organisations in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean and the scheduled start date is May 7.
The hospital also announced its recent collaboration with the University of Maryland, Institute of Human Virology for the delivery of the Masters in Internal Medicine/ Infectious Disease Programme which was launched in January.
Also present at the opening were CEO of the Hospital Michael Khan; Director, Medical and Professional Services Dr Sheik Amir and programme directors for the different training programmes.
