Is young and capable Dr Suzette Reynolds

MEET Dr Suzette Alana Reynolds who has officially been heading the Public Health Department of the Mayor and City Council over the past six months. While she came and met seasoned persons on the job whom she was now expected to guide, Suzette was all prepared and ready to take on the task.

The challenges are there for her to cope with, and Suzette well understands the difficulties that come along with working in a political climate, but the upbringing she’d received turned her into an individual who now acts with maturity beyond her years.

Initially, Suzette, 32, wasn’t so thrilled to take up employment with the City Council, but she didn’t mind serving in an ‘acting’ position from time to time. In fact, she was the acting health director for the entire year of 2018, leading up to her appointment in September.
“It wasn’t my burning desire to be where I am, but I saw the need for somebody to be here; for somebody to be committed and honest; to be the calm in the storm, and I think I have the potential to do it,” Suzette expressed during an interview with the Pepperpot Magazine a few days ago.

With a number of “fresh” ideas in hand, she believes that it is necessary for officers to be up to date with the times.

“The trend is that if you don’t get up to date with the times, you get left behind. What I see is that a lot of senior officers are well experienced, but they’re set in a determined way as to how they want to execute things. They do not look to the newer approach, the one that is acceptable by the wider population. In terms of flexibility, there is not a lot there. I think I am a little more flexible. I don’t want to brag, but I think I can insert myself in a lot more things and bring more to the Council.”

Suzette serves in a more administrative capacity at the moment in that she oversees four different sections of the municipality being the municipal daycare services, food and hygiene and the abattoir, environmental health and vector control, and the maternal and child health clinic. “My job is to ensure that those systems are running efficiently. The heads of those sections will report to me and we plan together to tackle challenging areas.”

No other career choice
Suzette was born and raised at Charity, Essequibo, to parents Juliet Boyce, a retired teacher, and now deceased Rudolph Reynolds, who was a doctor by profession.
After attending Charity nursery and primary schools, she secured a place at the Anna Regina Multilateral School right there in Essequibo and then pressed on to the University of Guyana where she started to pursue a degree in biology.

Due to circumstances, Suzette could not continue down this route and hence opted to start a degree in pharmacy. “
After much convincing, her mom allowed her to participate in the Cuban scholarship programme that the government provided and hence she was able to complete her medical degree in Cuba.

Suzette feels that her interest in medicine and becoming a doctor was sparked while spending time with her father and seeing him do his job. “In my childhood, I always showed a lot of inclination in being like he is. Most girls normally like to mirror their father and I was the same. At the age of three, I was told I called a number of big words. I was always tagging along behind him,” she fondly recalls.

At around age six, she received her first plastic doctor set which was preserved well into her adult life because she cared for it so well. “It was a great symbol of my childhood and I eventually fell into the exact profession that I wanted. I never envisioned myself in any other career choice. Being a doctor was always my passion.”

Parents – ‘Do not limit your children’
Suzette is grateful for the upbringing she receives and is glad that her mom never placed a limit on her. she believes that children should be allowed to go in whichever direction they wish, choosing to do the job that they best prefer. Otherwise, she pointed out how they can end up with a job that is both frustrating and burdensome.

“Some parents feel that if their children do not fit into that profile as the ideal doctor or lawyer or engineer or some other top flying position, it’s not good enough. But that’s where they’re wrong because they discourage the children and they end up being nothing at all.”
Suzette feels that if parents show confidence in their children, they will be helping them to reach their true potential. “Once you believe in your children, they can go to the heights you can’t even imagine.

“When I graduated from medical school, I made the ‘Dean’s list’ with distinction, equivalent to a GPA of 4.87 which was mine when I graduated. It just shows that once you like what you do, you will excel at it.”
Suzette is married to Dabria Marcus and is the mother to two-year-old Celia. “Celia is everything. The thing about being a parent versus being a professional; it’s challenging of course, but in medicine, we always get the chance to see other people receiving their bundle of joy and starting their families. So when it’s our turn, the joy abounds. There’s no other like it,” Suzette expressed.

“Everything in your professional life doesn’t make sense unless you can have a child of your own and actually see the value and meaning of life. It gives you that amount of happiness. It’s always studying and dedicating your energies to someone else or being the caregiver to someone else that you’re not related to. So when you get a chance to call somebody your own, it’s a completely different feeling,” she continued.

Suzette does her best to balance her family life with her professional responsibilities. “I give it my best. I’m usually the last to go to bed and the first to wake up. My husband helps a lot and that’s a great asset.”