WELL-known Guyanese cardiologist Dr Vivian Rambihar was honoured last week in Toronto, Canada for his work in medicine among ethnic minorities. The Guyanese heart specialist was recognised along with popular hip-hop artist K’naan, Member of Parliament Olivia Chow, and wrestling legend Tiger Jeet Singh among the top 25 Canadian immigrants for 2012.
Dr  Rambihar was also honoured earlier in May 2012 by the Queen’s College Alumni Association of New York for his exemplary global contribution.
Dr. Rambihar attended Queen’s College in the 1960s and is a Guyana Scholar, who  has made global contributions in medicine and complexity science.
He taught Mathematics at Queen’s College before migrating to Canada to study medicine at McMaster University where he specialised in Cardiology, and has been in practice in Toronto since 1980.  His daughter is also a heart specialist.
The top 25 Canadian immigrants is a national people’s choice award, which celebrates the inspiring achievements of Canadian immigrants.
There were over 500 nominations with only 25 being honored.  Dr Rambihar is the only Caribbean person achieving this award this year. Terry Sawh and Dr Jagessar Das, both of Guyanese origin were other Indo-Caribbeans winning the award in previous years.
The Awards are sponsored by Canadian Immigrant Magazine and Royal Bank of Canada.
Margaret Jetelina, editor of Canadian Immigrant magazine says “Even though this is our fourth annual awards, there is no shortage of immigrants deserving to be recognised for their contribution to Canada.
The top 25 Canadian Immigrants of 2012 areinspiring role models not only for all immigrants, but also for everyone born in Canada.”
Paul Sy, Director of Multicultural Markets, RBC said the newcomers bring unique skills and talents to Canada, which benefit us all and enriches Canada’s productivity and diversity.
Dr. Rambihar is recognised for this award for his visionary and pioneering work in the field of ethnicity and health and also the field of complexity science. He is also an author, an Adjunct Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto, and a community activist. He has been an advocate for improving the health of Canadians for two decades and did some of the early research on Immigrant health. He was the first in Canada to raise awareness of the need for addressing heart diseases and diabetes in South Asians.
Dr Rambihar says the diaspora community should become fully engaged in working to improve its health, and that lots more needs to be done across the entire community to achieve better health.
He said: “I was faced with the challenge of addressing a newly recognised increased health risk in immigrants, and took it as a personal challenge to respond.” He said that this led him to learn more and to achieve more for the community, for health and for change.
His advice to fellow immigrants, especially recent newcomers, is to expect challenges and consider them opportunities for learning and growth. “We should also learn from others who have succeeded and, if possible, be creative and innovative. We should both integrate into the wider community and maintain our unique individuality, culture and
heritage.”
Dr. Rambihar is currently developing the concept of “Global Heart Hour” with his daughter Vanessa Rambihar, a recent graduate in medicine from the University of Toronto, and he is also the health co-chair of the Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin, advocating creating a culture of health across the diaspora.
Dr Rambihar has received many awards, which he says helps to him to reach out and achieve more. He was honoured in 2011 with the Vedic Cultural Centre Award.