To help tackle the shortage of healthcare workers in Guyana, the Head of Internal Medicine and Cardiology at the Georgetown Public Hospital, Dr. Mahendra Carpen, is advocating for innovative, non-traditional methods of training.
Dr. Carpen said that while the issue of limited healthcare personnel is a global challenge and was worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic, solutions lie in adapting how training is approached.
He cited the example of a renowned heart surgeon in South India, whose surgical team includes housewives from local villages who were taught specialised skills to assist in operating rooms, despite not having formal nursing education.
“They had basic comprehension, but their skill level in that particular speciality is unmatched, more than anyone else who would have gone through the formal training programme,” Dr. Carpen said during an episode of the Starting Point Podcast this week.
According to him, Guyana has many people who may not meet the entry requirements for formal medical training, such as five subjects at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) exams or A-levels, but who could excel if allowed to learn specific skills.
“I guarantee you, we have the opportunity that, should anyone want to be trained in any specific field, we can make that happen,” the renowned cardiologist said.
“I don’t believe that we have a situation where our people are looking for jobs and looking for opportunities and cannot find it,” he added.
He emphasised that embracing creative approaches to training will be key to addressing the workforce gap in Guyana’s health sector.
To meet the growing demand for services, about 6,000 healthcare workers, including nurses, are needed in Guyana. In the interim, the government has embarked on a process of hiring foreign healthcare workers.
The incumbent People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) government is confident that nurses and other healthcare workers who left Guyana in search of better salaries will return here to capitalise on the development taking place.
Better salaries and other benefits for local workers have been a key promise from party representatives on the election campaign trail.
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