The Ministry of Health has charged over 200 Cuba-trained doctors to remain humble as they have now embarked on a career of service, at an orientation exercise held on Monday prior to their deployment to health centres countrywide.
While commending the doctors for their chosen profession, Permanent Secretary at the Health Ministry Leslie Cadogan told the doctors that it is a career that will make or break them, according to a Government Information Agency (GINA) report.
“You must be very humble and polite to the public who come to you for service,” Cadogan said.
The doctors were due to undergo several training sessions in groups of 60, aimed at informing their deployment at various health facilities countrywide.
According to GINA, the training would encompass the legal and administrative components of the health system, regional and clinical health services, maternal and child health programme, completing medical records, national medicines policy and essential medicines list, tertiary care and referral systems, national HIV/AIDS programme, quality and standards in health care, non-communicable diseases control, standards treatment guidelines, malaria control, TB control, and rational use of antibiotics and immunisation.
Sessions will also be held on ALARM, Basic Life Support, Advanced Life Support, Paediatric Advanced Life Support and Visual Inspection Using Acetic Acid (VIA), which are all a part of the ministry’s promotion of continuous learning. Seventy doctors have completed the sessions and have already started serving at hospitals in various regions.
The Permanent Secretary also spoke about the relationship between the doctors, the management of the facilities, and the relationship between nurses and patients.
“I want you also to understand that you are at the expense of the Guyanese people…you are not bigger than anyone else or all the patients…so please be humble, develop yourself and start identifying areas for research,” Cadogan said.
In his address, Health Minister Dr Bheri Ramsaran spoke of the rigours of the health system and added that the orientation sessions will illustrate what is expected of the doctors as they begin to establish their long-term relationship with the populace.
Head of the Cuban Brigade, Dr Maria Del Carmen said that in the last seven years, the doctors received the necessary training that qualifies them as medical doctors under the Cuban School of Medicine.
In this regard, it is anticipated that the new doctors will put into practice what they learnt to aid in the strengthening of Guyana’s primary health care system. Dr Del Carmen pointed out that since the group is large they can make a big difference in the prevention and cure of illnesses. She acknowledged that medical studies never end, and encouraged the doctors to study every day and pursue higher education in the medical field.
