(Kaieteur News) Since its inception in 2004, the GreenHeart Medical University (GMU)finally held its very first graduation ceremony. The event was held on Wednesday at the Princess International Hotel, Providence, East Bank Demerara.

Though the University has produced many graduates, there was never an actual graduation ceremony held because most of the students were from foreign countries and opted to leave before a ceremony could be held. Of this year’s nine graduates, six are Guyanese. The others are American, Canadian and Nigerian.

They were Sunina Baboolall, Bibi Waleema Bacchus, Gonsalves Dalrymple, Kilanya Ulanda Haynes, Anthony Neil Jafer, Kirpaul Sawan Jagnarine, Imtias Mohamed Khan, Chigozie Elizabeth Nwokolo and Tom Yesudas.
Guyanese student Neil Jafer told Kaieteur News that the graduates had all worked very hard to complete the four-year course after which they needed to take a final examination to become Medical Doctors.
Jafers added that while he has his eyes on the United States Medical Licensure Examination (USMLE) and two other exams written in the United Kingdom and Jamaica respectively, he is not sure which he’ll go after.
After this, Jafer and his fellow colleagues will head to the Caribbean or further afield preparing to fully take on the career of their dreams.

To date, GMU has been able to graduate three batches of medical doctors and one batch of nurses.  The university’s medical programme has catered to a number of foreign students hailing from Nigeria, India, Canada, Nepal and the Caribbean.
At present, the GMU has been on a mission to help develop health services in Guyana. This is being done via various health activities such as blood drives, diabetic and other outreach programmes, which have included donations of medications, by the university, to a number of organizations.
Governed by a Board of Trustees and a Board of Directors, the university has Dr. Reza Chowdhury, an Indian National, as its Acting Dean and Mr. Wayne Barrow as its Registrar.
GMU has been accredited by the Ministry of Education’s National Accreditation Council and the Ministry of Health as well as the World Health Organisation and the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG). It is also listed in the International Medical Education Directory.
Dr. Chowdhury had said that the University plans to build a campus in the near future and a teaching hospital to complement the campus.
GMU is able to offer similar programmes offered by the University of Guyana’s Medicine Programme, within a shorter duration. It also collaborates with foreign institutions, and has been working closely with overseas-based professors and even graduates.
This publication was further informed that there are currently two Medicine Programmes – a five-year programme for those who have CXC subjects and a four-year programme for persons with pre-qualifications, and that the University has also been accepting international students with Diplomas and other certificates, equivalent to its requirements.

The response from overseas students has been commendable. Dr. Chowdhury has since been urging Guyanese to join the student population which comprises 75 percent foreign students.
The University also offers a Nursing programme, which according to Chowdhury, is being revised with a view to taking it to the United States National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) standard. This move, he said, will see the programme being raised to an even more North American standard.
This is necessary, he said, in order to allow students to write the NCLEX examination thereby enabling them to practise in the United States.
The University, which is situated at Croal Street, Stabroek, Georgetown, recently launched a research programme.