30 nurses in training in oncology
Trainers and students take a breather for a photo-op (Photos by Asif Hakim)
Trainers and students take a breather for a photo-op (Photos by Asif Hakim)

–for new cancer-care department

THE Organisation for Social and Health Advancement for Guyana (OSHAG) in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) on Monday started a training programme for nurses in the field of oncology.

Nurses pay rapt attention to what they’re being taught about oncology
Nurses pay rapt attention to what they’re being taught about oncology

The training programme which caters for 30 nurses in Guyana hailing from Georgetown, New Amsterdam, Berbice, West Demerara and Linden comes to an end today before the grand opening of an oncology department at the GPHC to treat patients for free who have been diagnosed with cancer. Oncology is the field of medicine that is devoted to cancer.

NEW ONCOLOGY DEPARTMENT
Carol Baggot, the president of OSHAG, said that the partnership has been a good one and nurses from the United States will provide the training. She also said that OSHAG will be making a donation towards the newly oncology department after its opening.
Head of the medical team, Dr. Trevor Layne, who is a certified medical oncologist and has been in the field for over some 22 years, explained that they are trying to arrange for the continuation of cancer care in Guyana.
He also said that they will strive to make the new oncology department as close as possible to the ones in the United States.
The other trainers were Latesha Smith, a registered oncology nurse from the Memorial Sloan Kettering and Cancer Center based in New York, Stacy Ferrol a registered oncology nurse in the field of chemotherapy and Arlene Trim, a registered oncology nurse.
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) is a cancer treatment and research institution founded in 1884 as the New York Cancer Hospital.
The main campus is located at 1275 York Avenue, between 67th and 68th Streets in Manhattan, New York City. MSK has long been a leader in cancer surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy and is the world’s largest and oldest dedicated cancer hospital.
It was the first to develop services specifically dedicated to the psychiatric aspects of cancer, to the relief of cancer pain, and to genetic counselling.
As of 2014, U.S. News & World Report ranks MSK as the number one cancer hospital in the country.
The nurses who are being trained, who also have some amount of knowledge in the field of oncology, said that they are happy for the training and the initiative will help to better cancer care in Guyana. They said further that they would love to help and treat cancer patients to the best of their knowledge.

(By Asif Hakim)

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