76 medical professionals set to graduate from GPHC’s post grad. progs.

Jan 21, 2021 News

Despite COVID-19 restrictions…

Director of the IHSE, Dr. Alexandra Harvey.

Kaieteur News – Despite the challenges of operating during the COVID-19 pandemic, 76 medical professionals have successfully completed post-graduate programmes offered by the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation’s (GPHC) Institute of Health Science Education (IHSE).
Head of the IHSE and Director of Medical Education at GPHC, Dr. Alexandra Harvey, told Kaieteur News during an interview that like most agencies, the IHSE had to adapt to operating under strict COVID-19 measures.
She explained that despite the conditions, the post-graduate trainees in the class of 2020 –some 44 doctors and 32 nurses were able to complete their programmes.
“Indeed, 2020 had been a tough year, we had to operate in keeping with COVID-19 protocols which meant we had to introduce virtual classes but through it all, we were able to persevere and candidates were able to complete their courses,” Dr. Harvey said.
She noted too that “like always, the candidates worked hard, maybe even harder to ensure that they successfully completed the 2020 work programme.”
The IHSE head noted that in addition to the virtual classes, whenever the class met, it was also under strict restrictions.
“Everyone had to wear their masks, practice the recommended social distancing rules and hand hygiene methods and so on,” she said.
According to Dr. Harvey, this February, the doctors and nurses will be presented with their post-graduate certificates in a number of courses including Surgery, Anesthesia, Internal Medicine, Psychiatry, Paediatrics, Emergency Medicine, Radiology, Obstetrics And Gynaecology, Orthopaedics, Family Medicine and Neonatal Intensive Care.
“This will be done virtually of course, since we are still operating under the COVID-19 protocol,” she said.
Since 2006, the IHSE has been working closely with the University of Guyana (UG) which provides medical accreditation for the various programmes for qualified doctors and nurses.
Given its mandate, the IHSE has been hailed for introducing a next-level type of medical education at Guyana’s national health institution. According to Dr. Harvey, the IHSE has been the initiator and continues to be the leader in this country for post-graduate medical education.
Dr. Harvey explained, “Prior to 2006, this type of training was not available in Guyana… Starting initially with one programme but we now have expanded to more than 14 certified programmes with more on the horizon.”
Dr. Harvey said too that given its mandate to provide continuous training to healthcare professionals, the IHSE has since helped hundreds of medical doctors and nurses obtain their post-graduate certificates.
Annually, the institute, which is housed in the compound of the GPHC, boasts of providing scores of doctors and nurses with the specialised line of post-graduate medical certificates.
At present, a new batch of post-graduate medical students has started to enroll for a host of specialised health education programmes for the year 2021.