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The programme follows on the development of post-graduate education at the GPHC, in affiliation with the University of Guyana. It was initiated in 2006, and had been robustly lobbied for by Dr. Madan Rambaran. There are, at present, programmes in Surgery; Emergency Medicine; Orthopedics and Trauma; Paediatrics; Anaesthesia; and Obstetrics and Gynaecology. The model for these programmes, the directors have said, is to partner with overseas universities and faculty for development and delivery.
Launching of the programme at this time is significant, as the University of Guyana is currently celebrating its golden Jubilee year. According to Dr. Emannuel Cummings, the Residency programme could be seen as a virtual 50th anniversary gift to UG from its partners.
The programme is supported by a new five-year grant from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as part of the President’s Emergency Programme For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR); educators from the University of Maryland Institute of Human Virology; Institute of Health Science Education (IHSE); and the University of Guyana have been designed collaboratively and is now being implemented.
It is accredited by the University of Guyana, and is of three years’ duration, with a first intake of seven residents, who were all presented before the gathering at yesterday’s auspicious ceremony. They are: Dr Haimmchand Barran; Dr. Terrence Haynes: Dr. Ramdeo Jainarine, Dr. Kumarie Jaipersaud; Dr. Kishore Ramdass ; Dr. Kamela Bemaul Sukhu and Dr. Grace Waldron-White.
Directors have assured that there will be a continuous presence of faculty from Maryland at the GPHC, supported by local faculty, to conduct the programme. The sustainability of the project will be reinforced through the creation of a detailed strategy for fully transitioning the programme to the GPHC’s IHSE and the University of Guyana’s Faculty of Health Sciences at the end of the five-year grant, they said.
Commenting on the programme, Founder and Director of the IHSE, Dr. Madan Rambaran, described it as a really giant step and a positive development in the health sector. He said, “This [programme] is a major development in our efforts to advance post-graduate medical education to meet our national needs for specialist care and research.”
He noted that, with a significant proportion of Guyana’s disease burden being due to infectious diseases and the chronic non-communicable diseases like hypertension and diabetes, such a programme is to be considered as long overdue.
On behalf of the local stakeholders and the people of Guyana, Dr. Rambaran expressed gratitude to the Government and people of the United States of America; the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); and PEPFAR for allowing our country to move forward with this important project.
And Dr. Bruce Gilliam, Project Director and Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Maryland, Institute of Human Virology, remarked: “It is our hope that providing high-level training in internal medicine and infectious diseases at the GPHC will not only increase the likelihood of physicians choosing to stay in Guyana, but also improve the quality of care, as these highly trained physicians provide care for patients and training for other providers throughout the country.”
Meanwhile, US Ambassador Brent Hardt congratulated the partnership in Infectious Diseases and Internal Medicine programme between the University of Maryland and the Guyanese stakeholders. Recalling that it has been in the making for some time, he commended the hard work put in by the stakeholders, and noted on this occasion that: “We are truly blessed” to be launching the programme at this time.
The programme, Ambasador Hardt said, has been developed “…so that we can work more effectively together in addressing the challenges posed in combating HIV and AIDS and infectious diseases more broadly.”
Alluding to the decade-long investment the US has made in helping Guyana combat HIV/AIDS, and the fruitful relationship Guyana has enjoyed with PEPFAR and the CDC in this initiative, he noted that the programme being witnessed today builds on that foundation in providing yet another way that the US Government could work more effectively and efficiently with the government and other health partners.
He commended Guyana’s efforts at providing health care, with 25 medical doctors being graduated each year, among other medical training schemes, but said that he is however of the view that there is still need for training personnel in Guyana to respond more effectively in combating the HIV epidemic.
He recalled that during PEPFAR’s first five-year term, from 2004 to 2008, the primary focus was on establishing and scaling-up prevention, care and treatment programmes for HIV. Albeit, the focus in the 2009–2013 phase had been to transition from the ‘emergency response’ to the ‘sustainable response’ in greater country ownership. To this end, he mentioned PEPFAR’s contribution towards scaling up training for healthcare providers worldwide.
Health Minister Dr. Bheri Ramsaran, who was very elated about the partnership achievement, noted that Guyana has been benefiting greatly from the contributions of PEPFAR.
While commending the initiative and expressing appreciation for the hard work and resources invested, he said the next move would be to map out strategies aimed at ‘training and retaining’, or retaining [skills] after training. This, he said, has been one of the major concerns facing the ministry, particularly as it seeks to address its transition plan. Dr. Ramsaran shared with the gathering the Ministry’s plans for continued training within the health sector, adding that on Friday the GPHC launched its ‘Training of Trainers’ programme for nurses and the recent graduation of nine all female persons on the University’s Dental programme.
