By Frederick Halley

GUYANA’S most prestigious school, Queen’s College, recently celebrated 50 years of co-education, bringing together alumni to mark the transformative introduction of girls to the school in 1975.

An exhibition at the school highlighted this story and the alumni’s stellar achievements. Students celebrated with tea parties in their classrooms, resplendent in their finest, wandering through the exhibition to engage with the alumni and hear their fascinating stories.

Among them is the inspiring story of three brothers who came from abroad to celebrate their sister Roxanne Rambihar’s historic achievement in the first co-ed class in 1975, when she was one of the first female Guyana Scholars at QC, along with Indra Gopaul.

Roxanne’s three brothers — Compton, Vivian, and Brian — are also distinguished alumni: All were teachers at QC, all studied medicine, and two — Dr. Brian Rambihar, a senior Occupational Health and Revalidation Specialist from London, UK, and Dr. Vivian Rambihar, a cardiologist from Canada — like Roxanne, were Guyana Scholars, a feat that would be extremely hard to match.

The brothers Rambihar made it a point to attend and honour their late siste,r Roxanne, who sadly passed away from renal failure a few years ago. Brian will run the London Marathon in 2026, fundraising in her honour.

Running led them to a serendipitous meeting and photo opportunity with the President of Guyana just hours after their arrival. Brian joined a small group lining up to meet the President at the end of a business conference. He told the President he was inspired by his speech at the opening of the Demerara Bridge, and, as a runner, he wanted to run across it — but that part was closed.
The President immediately said he would try to make that happen. Unfortunately, because of literal roadblocks, it could not happen during Brian’s visit. Undaunted, he ran the Breast Cancer Walk through Georgetown the next day, claiming the historic achievement (in his mind) of being the first person the President approved to run across the bridge. He still plans to make that run one day.

Dr. Vivian Rambihar has also had his share of serendipity and achievement. He is a well-known Toronto cardiologist who cares for many Guyanese, both in Toronto and in Canada. He was among the first to research and advocate for culturally sensitive healthcare in Canada and received the University of Toronto’s highest alumni honour in June 2005 — the Carl Mitchell Award for Community Impact, named after the late former U of T Alumni President.

He has received numerous awards, including the Guyana 50th Anniversary of Independence Award (2016) and induction into the Scarborough Walk of Fame for Health and Science in 2024. These accolades recognised his pioneering work on diversity and health, community engagement, and the new science of chaos and complexity — a field that received the 2021 Physics Nobel Prize for its role in climate change. Dr Rambihar was the first to apply it to medicine. He credits this “out-of-the-box” thinking to his strong foundation at Queen’s College, especially in mathematics.

As the 1969 Guyana Scholar, Dr Rambihar was awarded a prestigious scholarship to study any subject at any university in the world. He chose the University of Toronto, arriving in 1970 as an 18-year-old after a year of teaching mathematics at Queen’s College. At University College, U of T, he pursued a multidisciplinary course of study in premedical subjects, mathematics, physics, and biomedical engineering, before enrolling in the revolutionary new McMaster University Medical School, graduating in 1975, and training in cardiology at both McMaster and the University of Toronto.

Dr Rambihar began his cardiology practice in Scarborough, Canada, in 1980, during a period of growing population diversity. He started community engagement and health promotion, advocating for systemic and policy change to address high rates of premature heart disease and diabetes — especially in immigrant and South Asian communities in Canada and globally, including many Guyanese.

Dr Rambihar had the honour of delivering the University College, University of Toronto, Spring 2025 Commencement Address to Science graduates. He reflected on his own days at QC and U of T, and the difficult early choice between mathematics/physics or medicine — saying he chose both, merging maths-based chaos and complexity science with health promotion in novel and inspirational ways. He extended this to a “Global Heart” concept after the 2004 tsunami, detailed in his book Tsunami Chaos Global Heart, available free online.

He advised graduates to start early in preventing heart disease and diabetes — both increasing in Canada, Guyana, and globally — noting they are mostly preventable. He advocated healthy living, no smoking or vaping, more physical activity, and reduced alcohol intake. Dr Rambihar suggested that learning outside one’s field would prove valuable later in life, invoking Steve Jobs’s famous Stanford Commencement Address line: “The dots will connect themselves later.”

Like the three brothers graduating in medicine, Vivian’s three daughters are also graduates of medicine in Ontario, Canada, and Assistant Professors of Medicine at the University of Toronto: Dr Sherryn Rambihar, a cardiologist; Dr Nadira Rambihar, a physiatrist (Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine and Sports Medicine); and Dr Vanessa Rambihar, a family physician at Women’s College Hospital. Dr Brian’s daughter Sophie is also a family doctor in the UK.

Drs Vivian, Sherryn, and Nadira Rambihar were part of an inspiring Heart Health Symposium in Guyana in March 2025, sponsored by Chirosyn Canada Inc, and attended by over 600 delegates both in person and online, with Minister of Health Dr Frank Anthony among the speakers.

The year 2025 is also significant for the brothers’ return: Vivian celebrates 50 years since his medical school graduation, Brian turns 65, and Compton turns 75. Equally important, they say, is being in Guyana to celebrate the historic achievement of their sister Roxanne and to share their stories — hoping to inspire QC students and Guyanese alike.

The source of their inspiration: their mother, Iris, who raised eight children who all attended Bishops’ High and Queen’s College, and their father, William, a teacher, Education Officer, and UG graduate in the university’s first class. He attended UG at QC at night while Vivian attended QC by day, taking the ferry every day across the Demerara River that Brian hopes one day to run across — teaching at La Grange and later Zeeburg by day, then attending UG in the evening.