THREE doctors from the Mackenzie Hospital in Linden recently left for China to pursue specialized training in the field of medicine. Martha Singh, Allan Outridge, and Sean Huston are pursuing courses in orthopedics, cardiology and anaesthesia respectfully. They were granted scholarships from the Government of Guyana and the Government of China after it was concluded that the hospital was in dire need of specialised clinics and resident doctors to man those clinics.
According to Chairman of the Regional Health Committee Gregory Harris, the three doctors returned from Cuba in 2013 after studying general medicine for seven years but were sent to pursue speciality as most of those doctors were visiting doctors who came on a routine bases.
The three doctors will be spending three to four years overseas.
The call was made at the recently held public consultation with Junior Minister of Health Karen Cummings in Linden. After the Minister learnt that the hospital was in need for specialised doctors, she urged the general practising doctors to pursue speciality training as scholarships were available.
“We have persons who have just written CXC, encourage them to go into the health field. Maybe we can have a neurologist coming from Linden, encourage the younger ones to come into the field so that you can have your own your own specialists in Linden,” articulated Dr. Cummings.
She boasted that it was the Ministry’s mandate to provide specialized services not only at the Linden Hospital Complex but countrywide and therefore there was a call for persons to pursue post graduate training in medicine in an effort to foster continuous medical education.
Director of Regional Health Services Dr. Kay Shako also commenting on the issue said that nurses should also consider the offer as they can use the opportunity afforded to them to serve their communities. “We would want nurses from the direct location to be trained so that they can give those services back to their community so we will be looking for persons from their specific location,” posited Shako.
The Linden Hospital Complex currently has 50 doctors and six specialised units that hold specific clinics on a weekly basis. The hospital is looking to increase this number as many patients seeking various speciality services are often transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital.