I Should be Looking at the Finish Line, But....

One Week Left

I know my trip is a little shorter than my usual and it seems to have been busier than usual.  Yes, the self-inflicted travels to Mabaruma and Lethem were way too enjoyable and informative to regret except from the workaholic side of my personality ..... and my retired self is trying hard not to have that side re-emerge.   This week my easy-going-contented side seems to have lost the battle.

The Final Exams for the First Class of Graduating Psychiatry Residents   
Usually everything happens slowly - really slowly - in Guyana; the Master's Degree in Psychiatry is really an exception.  It was a dream in 2015... and now it is a reality.

Drs. Elizabeth, Veneta and Stefon

Three doctors, Elizabeth Nickram, Veneta Gangaram and Stefon Henry have written their final exams... and with more than two-thirds of the marks in they have been exceptionally successful.. I wish my marks had been as good in graduate school!  There is only one section [the dreaded 200 Multiple Choice Questions] left to be graded.   I have had the privilege to be the "External Faculty Member" for these exams.   Yes, I have had to grade the Oral Exams and the Answers to the Short Questions part, and my main official duties were to take the sealed envelope from the University of Guyana Invigilator and open it and hand it back.  I accomplished this academic feat without incident three times.   I didn't have to suffer through the hours of sitting there watching the residents write.

During the oral exams each resident had to assess a person whom they had not seen before.   I found their interviews to be organized, strategic and competent.  And as it is my custom not to do anything by the book, I asked each person being assessed how they would grade their resident.   Really, the person who came for help is a most important evaluator and they all responded positively with quite specific comments.   Then, Drs. Bhiro Harry (Chief Psychiatrist, Guyana) and Odalys Mirabal Benitez (Cuban Psychiatrist assigned to the Psychiatry programme for several years now) and I questioned each resident and then proceeded to grade each one.

At exam time, we had to take a taxi to the other side of the
hospital  because the flood-water was way over our shoes.  It did
take their minds off  the exam.

The Short Answers section had 10 questions, one submitted by each person who had taught them over the years. The same group, with the additions of Drs. Pedro Pons Brovet, a Senior Neurologist and Geriatrician, and Zenia Lopez Mompel, another Cuban Psychiatrist who had worked in the Guyana clinic for many years, met for a couple of hours to grade the exams individually and then establish a consensus mark.  I don't know why I was surprised, but I was the easiest marker ..... at least with the questions that I understood.     I enjoyed a stimulating academic debate.

We still have to wait for the results from the last section, but no matter:  I am proud to have been a part of history.  And besides from the local staff there have been other volunteers who have spent many hours visiting and on line, sharing their wisdom.   These include (and if I have forgotten someone, please excuse me):

• The pioneer Dr. Tony Carr, a British-trained Internist and Psychiatrist, who has been involved since 2007 and is responsible for me being involved in Psychiatry.   Without his enthusiasm and commitment I doubt this degree would have been possible.   The Residents still bow their heads when his name is mentioned.

Sujay, Brenna, Peter and Ram

• Dr. Peter Kuhnert, a Family Medicine Doctor and Lutheran Pastor,  who called me almost a decade ago because he thought I was a Psychiatrist and even after he found out I wasn't, has still stayed involved.   It was his vision and energy that brought the first exploratory team to Guyana to explore how a small group of volunteers (Dr. Sujay Patel, Psychiatrist; Ms. Brenna Christian, Teacher; and, Rev. Ram Kalap, Chaplain) came to Guyana in 2013 ......  And from that small visit, this group has gone on to create an impressive legacy.   A Canadian NGO "Mental Health Without  Borders" is functioning strongly to support Mental Health issues in Guyana  and elsewhere. For example they have contributed funds that make it possible for my nursing students to travel to the National Psychiatric Hospital.

Sujay and Shrenik with the 2018 MHWB Team

• They are also in the final stages of formalizing their academic relationship with the Master's Programme through the International Health Science Educational Institute at Georgetown Public Hospital with a Memorandum of Understanding.  This is an enormous undertaking for a volunteer group; They will need  your prayers and financial support.

• This initial group, under the leadership  of Dr. Kuhnert, has brought yearly teams of professionals to teach and work in Mental Health and the Residency in Psychiatry.   Peter has also been the driving inspiration behind the Guyana NGO, Institute for the Development of Psychiatric and Mental Health Resources in Guyana.  They have raised enough funds to bring the three senior residents to the Grand River Hospital in Kitchener, Ontario for a one month's Medical Observership - amazing.

• Dr. Shrenik Parekh, Child Psychiatry Residency, including several trips with MHWB and Peter's teams.  He has been the online educator, taking over from Dr. Carr.   As well, he has been responsible for arranging and scoring the 200 multiple choice questions for their final exam.  

Sorry: My pictures of Shrenik must have been transferred 

to my external drive in Ayr, so you 

will just have to imagine a really cool South Asian male.

I know he is in the group one above, but he deserved his own.

I knew I was going to forget someone important:  Dr Erv Janssen.  He is a Child Psychiatrist from Oklahoma who had been coming here for more than a decade before I first came.   He organized his church, Fellowship Lutheran Church, to take Mission seriously.  He brought down health teams, music teams and construction teams yearly.  He has left his imprint on the  success of the Master's programme...

And I can't even find my old black and white picture of Erv

so I'll include a picture of his wife, who is ..... like ..... way cuter.

Sometimes when you are always there...

Last but never least, my friend and colleague, Dr. Bhiro Harry.  He is definitely the Father of Psychiatry in Guyana.  (He should be the Grandfather of Psychiatry but his children aren't obliging him.)   For many years , he was the only Psychiatrist working with the public in Guyana.

There is almost no one in Georgetown who has not heard of Bhiro.  It is usual if we go out for a beer that one or two people just want to chat with him and thank him - or ask for some money!  (To be clear it is not seldom that we go out for a beer .....)

In my life there have been a few people who have been just like me, even though we are seemingly nothing alike in personality or background.  Bhiro is a pastoral shrink and I may be a secular pastor ..... so in a way we are similar.

Bhiro has supported every effort to strengthen psychiatry and all the Canadians who have come to assist.  You can count on him and therefore, may not notice his contribution.   I can say without a doubt that without his welcoming support of all of us, there would have been no changes to Psychiatric services in Guyana.

Thanks, brother!

And thanks to you for reading so far .....
More to come .....
I have more to write about after I am back home.
John