As Guyana prepares for first oil next year, 85 young persons — who, after undertaking as many as two years of study in various medical fields, graduated from their courses with honours — were on Monday urged to exploit the country’s resources and become entrepreneurs in their respective fields.
Former students of the graduating classes of 2015-2017 and 2017-2019 put on their best smiles as they pose for a last group photo with their Programme Coordinators
Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), Kesaundra Alves, representing Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence, gave them this charge during their graduation ceremony, which was held at the National Cultural Centre.
Decked out in their royal blue graduation gowns, these smiling young persons listened keenly as they excitedly waited to receive their certificates and prizes.
Thirteen persons from five administrative regions graduated from the Pharmacy Assistant training course.
Another 15, coming from seven regions, were certified as X-ray Technicians. Eighteen persons from six regions graduated as Environmental Health Assistants, while 39 graduated from the Medical Laboratory Technician programme.
Alves encouraged them as follows: “Our education system has a way of preparing us to look for a job. I think that’s a problem throughout the Caribbean, so we all go to school and get a good education to get a good job. But I want to tell you that we need to step outside the box, and we need to look at entrepreneurship”.
She explained: “You have so many people coming into the country, so many come to exploit what is ours, and we have to know (or) prepare ourselves to exploit it too… If you’re a pharmacy assistant, become a pharmacist. Open pharmacies in the various Regions. Look for opportunities to become entrepreneurs; and create jobs, don’t just look for jobs”.
A similar challenge was given to the graduates who were certified in other areas.
Director of the Division of Health Sciences Education (DHSE), Seraiah Validum, reminded the graduating class of their importance, as she shared statistics which show that most patients are often seen by Lab Technicians among others, before they are seen by doctors who then diagnose a patient based on a report from those professionals.
She, also, urged them to exercise patience in the work field, despite situations and challenges they face.
Training coordinators each gave a brief report on the different programmes; thus it was explained that Environmental Health Assistants began their course on April 28, and they underwent studies in communicable diseases and vector control, food safety, sanitation, and public health legislation among several other things. Valedictorian for this class was Candace Wallace.
The X-ray Technician course began in September 2017 and wound down on February 2019. Young people between the ages of 17 and 24 participated herein, and were trained and then attached to GPHC and the Medical Centre to obtain hands-on experience. Wicliffe Garnett was the top scorer for her class.
The Pharmacy programme required 15 students to excel in five areas, including Pharmacology, Pharmaceutics and dosage forms, Pharmacy Law and a few others. About 88 per cent of persons in this course were able to graduate. Tamra Carter was the Valedictorian for her class, while Bibi Wazeeda Khan was valedictorian for the Medical Lab Tech course of 2015-2017, and Darshanie Rohit was valedictorian for the same course of study for the 2017-2019 class.
Each of the graduates will be stationed at health posts in their respective Regions, since they have obtained contracts with the Public Health Ministry.
