By Naomi Parris
SEVENTY-EIGHT patient care assistants from across Guyana graduated with 100 per cent passes from a six-month training programme at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) Patient Care Assistant Training Programme (PCA).

Chairperson of the GPHC Board of Directors, Kesaundra Alves, who delivered the feature address at the Umana Yana where the ceremony was held, expressed immense pleasure with the graduates’ outstanding performances.

She urged them to work assiduously to improve the health-care services in Guyana.
“As you know, entry to this programme is very competitive, we get hundreds of applications, everybody wants to be in this programme, you were the chosen ones, you were the lucky ones and you’ve done us proud and I hope you continue to do us proud,” Alves stated.

She added that it is now important that the graduates don’t forget their role to provide a comprehensive range of quality health care services in an efficient, effective, equitable and caring manner.

“Don’t forget your role, as a part of the country’s health system, is to serve the patients; so undoubtedly, the public health sector will be boosted with 78 qualified, eager persons whose service will help in ensuring that the GPHC achieves its mandate to provide health care for all our citizens, all our patients, everybody in Guyana,” she stated.

Valedictorian, Theressa Fredricks told Guyana Chronicle that her time during the programme was a life-changing one and urged persons to join programmes such as the PCA training programme to develop themselves.

“I actually enjoyed the programme, it is very educational, it teaches you to be professional, show empathy to others and I would like to encourage others to get on a programme because this is like a life-changing event,” she stated.
Fredricks noted that her success would not be possible without the support of her family, friends and tutors.

“I would say I didn’t have an easy time, I couldn’t do this alone. I’ve had lots of help from my family, my friends and my tutors. They gave us the best knowledge and the best training to improve the quality practice as patient care assistance in Guyana,” Fredricks stated.

Orwin Corlette, the only male who entered the programme in 2019, stated that being in the medical field has always been a dream since he was a child.

“This was always one of my dreams since early childhood. I’m now in the health field, I’m happy and overjoyed with this step and I must thank my family, more so my mother who is my mentor. Many mornings I get up and I don’t come, she would say I have to go and I would get up and bathe and come out,” he stated.

He added that being the only male among 77 females was challenging as he would have ‘falling outs’ with his classmates but he noted that their tutors always instilled in them that they must work as a team in order to provide efficient patient care.

Corlette, who also lost his brother to Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma cancer during the time he was studying, stated that while he was saddened by his brother’s death, it motivated him to work even harder to succeed in his final exams.

“Just a day before my final exam, he passed away and I went to my exam and I said ‘Brother, I know you’re going to blow good breeze and I’m going to do this to you’ and I eventually went into my exam and scored 100 per cent and I’m thankful for that,” he stated.