As part of its ongoing efforts to improve the quality of healthcare across Guyana, the Ministry of Health (MoH) on Friday launched its first biomedical technician’s programme at the National Racquet Centre in Woolford Avenue, Georgetown.
The MoH in a release yesterday stated that the programme is a collaborative effort between the Ministry of Public Service, Medical Aid International and the MoH. It involves 39 participants from various regions across Guyana who will be trained as biomedical technicians and engineers to provide biomedical support at the ministry’s new and improved hospitals currently being developed.
At the launch, the participants were issued with kits which included a laptop, tool kits, manuals, textbooks, tools, learning aids and protective wear, in preparation for their studies.
The release explained that biomedical support is a vital component of the efficient clinical management of patients in any hospital setting and requires a 24-hour support team.
In his address at the event, Minister of Health, Dr Frank Anthony, stressed the importance of biomedical technicians and engineers, especially since healthcare technologies have been evolving rapidly. He noted that it has been difficult in the past to dispatch technicians from Georgetown to the regions to undertake maintenance, especially since they are very few of them; hence this current batch of participants was chosen from various administrative regions.
“If something goes wrong in one of the regions, you have to wait until somebody from Georgetown gets out into the region to try to help to fix some of these things and it doesn’t take hours, it would take weeks and months for somebody to be able to get out there.”
According to Dr Anthony, those participants who successfully complete the programme are expected to return to their respective regions to be employed at the regional health facilities.
Meanwhile, Advisor to the Minister of Health, Dr Leslie Ramsammy, thanked President Irfaan Ali, Dr Anthony, and the team at Medical Aid International, for their immediate response to the programme and for raising resources to bring it to this stage of launch. He described the programme as a significant step forward as the ministry tries to improve healthcare in this country and urged the participants to take advantage of the opportunity is being provided.
“We are not just given the opportunity but we are given the honour and privilege to serve people in the greatest moment of need and we should not embark just because it’s a job but because in health care it’s a mission.”
Further while reflecting on the transformation the health sector has undergone, Dr Ramsammy highlighted that Guyana’s health sector can now perform open heart surgery, transplants, and other health services with the use of technology.
Medical Aid International Programme Director, Tim Beacon, who was virtually present via Google Meet, explained that the programme will be taught using the virtual (online) method and will consist of 74 modules. He informed that participants will be required to complete multiple-choice questions at the end of each module and are allowed to take it more than once; however, the questions will differ each time they are taken.
“Now these are over 15 units in a wide variety of subjects and each of those units has multiple choice questions at the end, and you can take this as many times as you like but you have to get 100 per cent to move on to the next unit. Now, just to make sure that you’re learning properly, each time that you take the multiple choice questions section, you will find that the questions and answers have changed.”
According to the release, at the end of the programme, the participants will receive a certificate in Biomedical Engineering which will be recognised globally. Further, the Head of Academic Research & Engineering Development at Medical Aid noted that the curriculum is self-paced, allowing students to learn at their own pace and on their own time.
Also, present at the launch was the Director of Standards and Technical Services, Dr Julian Amsterdam; the Biomedical Technician attached to Georgetown Public Hospital, Teanna Bagot; as well as other personnel from the Biomedical Department of both the hospital and Medical Aid International, the release added.