Two Guyana Defence Force Officers graduated as medical doctors (MD) on August 13, after earning their medical degrees following seven years of studies, the GDF said in a press release.
Captains Nigel Langhorne and Esan Reid read for degrees in Human Medicine after being awarded scholarships to study in Cuba in 2002. Six years of their programme of study were completed in Cuba, while the final year was completed last month in Guyana.
Both 27 years old, Capt Langhorne who hails from Christianburg, Linden, and Capt Reid who is from Bagotstown, East Bank Demerara, completed their Officer Cadet training in 2002 and began pursuing their childhood dreams to become doctors that year.
Langhorne and Reid together with 62 others received their certificates as MDs while 58 other scholarship awardees who studied in Cuba and Mexico graduated in professional fields such as Agronomy, and Civil and Electrical Engineering. The graduation ceremony was held at the National Cultural Centre.
Apart from the new doctors, 10 of the graduates earned post-graduate qualifications.
Langhorne previously attended Christianburg Primary school, McKenzie High School, Queen’s College, and President’s College; while Reid went to Eccles Primary School, St Stanislaus College and Queen’s College.
They completed the first year of their studies in Cuba at the Morón Medical School in the Province of Ciego de Avila and studied alongside fellow Guyanese as well as students from around the world. During the first year they learned Spanish and were oriented to the Cuban academic system and culture.
They continued their studies at the Facultad de Ciencas Medicas Matanzas and the Facultad de Ciencas Medicas Las Tunas respectively. In Cuba the medical schools are named after the provinces in which they are located. According to Langhorne and Reid, learning a new language and getting oriented to a new culture were not easy but they rose to the challenge. They credited their military training with enabling them to cope much better than many of the other students.
The two new doctors expressed gratitude to the GDF, the government and the people of Guyana and also the government and people of Cuba for the opportunity they were given. According to a Public Service Ministry official, they are to complete a one-year internship from September 2009 to August 2010, the release added.
