This trip to Guyana marks the beginning of my global ophthalmology fellowship year with Duke University. Ever since I was a premed, I have eagerly looked forward to building a career inspired by international work. After years of medical school, residency, and fellowship, I can’t believe that this year is finally here! I look forward to an amazing year of growth, learning, and sharing.
Guyana is a small country, nestled on the Northern coast of South America, with only a population of around 800,000 people. As we flew into Georgetown, the coastal capital of Guyana, I distinctly remember the country looking densely packed with broccoli heads from above, which is accurate since ¾ of the country is covered with the Amazon rainforest.
Guyana’s history is heavily shaped by colonial roots, as is evident by its multiracial population consisting of African, Indian, Chinese, Portuguese, and indigenous or “Ameridian,” people. One of my goals when traveling is to try to better understand each countries’ history and culture.
On our first day at Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), we met with some members of the ophthalmology team, including Dr. Shailendra Sugrim, a glaucoma specialist and the head of the ophthalmology department, and Dr. Celeste Hinds, a cornea specialist.
The team also consisted of other international ophthalmologists, optometrists, and “ophthalmology residents,” who were general practitioners trained on basic ophthalmology under the supervision of Dr. Sugrim.
Despite the hospital lacking a formal ophthalmology training program, Dr. Sugrim and others have successfully managed to orchestrate a busy department while building a culture of training. I have so much to learn from the local ophthalmologists here!
Over the next few days in the operating room, I observed Dr. Williams working with Dr. Hinds to help perform a total of 17 corneal transplants. Corneal transplants were first introduced to Guyana in 2016 via the George Subraj foundation, but have largely stopped being performed since 2021. Our hope is to collaborate with GPHC to help establish a sustainable Eye Banking program and revive the use of corneal transplants. By the end of the trip, Dr. Hinds was performing corneal transplant surgeries completely independently, which was so rewarding to see.
From left to right: Robbie Rambarran CEO of GPHC, global ophthalmology fellow Dr. Sheena Song, minister of health Dr. Frank Anthony, Duke global ophthalmology director Dr. Lloyd Williams, and GPHC ophthalmology director Dr. Shailendra Sugrim
One of the bigger goals that I’m coming to learn on this fellowship is the importance of partnership building. On our last day of the trip, we met with Guyana’s minister of health Dr. Frank Anthony to discuss long term goals and how Duke Global Ophthalmology can collaborate with Georgetown Public Hospital to build an ophthalmic training center of excellence and an eye banking system. There’s a lot to work to be done, but visits like these are the foundations for long term progress and helping to build capacity!
