THE University of Guyana College of Medical Sciences and the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) in collaboration with the Institute of Health Science Education, the University of Calgary and Libin Cardiovascular Institute of Alberta Affiliate Programme will be launching a new programme in echocardiography very soon.
According to a release, the programme is in keeping with the university’s continuous effort to promote and provide better cardia health care to citizens of Guyana.
This programme is another affiliated programme in the College of Medical Sciences/Faculty of Health Sciences, UG. It is a specialist (Fellowship) programme for suitably qualified physicians, leading to ASE Level III certification in echocardiography and is scheduled for a duration of 12 months.
Even though echocardiography was previously available to some degree at private, for-profit hospitals, it was not available in an accredited or formalised fashion within the public hospital system. There were no formally trained or accredited echocardiography technologists or cardiologists with formal echocardiography certification in Guyana, even within the private medical sector.

“Therefore, there has been limited access to cardiac diagnostics in Guyana, particularly in the public health care system. This programme is timely and necessary, especially given the prevalence of cardiac disease affecting adults and children in Guyana,” a release from UG said.
Echocardiography is ultrasound imaging diagnostic test of the heart and associated structures, which has become routinely used in the diagnosis, management, and follow-up of adults and children with any suspected or known heart diseases.
It is a non-invasive test with no known risks or side effects that is most widely used in cardiology to provide a wealth of important information, including the size and shape of the heart, pumping function (including location and extent of any tissue damage), heart valve structure and function, and congenital abnormalities of structure and function of the heart. On completion of this programme, successful persons will be awarded a fellowship in echocardiography from the University of Guyana.