YoungBrackers make first steps in medical career

(CNS):With all eyes on the new hospital in East End and the launch of medical tourism, younsters in the Brac are also getting their first taste of a career in the healthcare profession.Sister Islands’ students are gaining valuable experience learning from mentors at the Health Services Authority in the Faith Hospital’s internship programme designed to set Cayman’s future medical students on the right path. Dr Srirangan Velusamy, Director of Sister Islands Health Services said creating an open line of communication between the hospital and students plays an important part in encouraging them to make healthcare a career choice.

Each year since 2009, Faith Hospital’s intern programme has welcomed two students from Cayman Brac High School’s graduating class to come and learn as much as they can from staff at the hospital. All students who take part in the internship programme face an interview before they begin the mentoring process.

“We encourage the high school students to think of healthcare as their profession by meeting with them during their careers day as well as any other opportunity we get,” said Dr Velusamy. “Our interns work with us for a year in different sections of the hospital, gaining important exposure so they can properly appreciate what it means to be a healthcare professional.”

The doctor explained that staff mentor students by frequently meeting with them and their parents, guiding students to apply for their university course of choice. It’s an on-going relationship that goes far beyond the year spent at the hospital.

“Our mentorship continues while they are studying at university,” he said. “We believe this is crucial to the success of our programme because we want the students to be successful and complete the course. Mentoring students right up until they graduate is very important to us.”

Dr Velusamy added that he and his staff would like to see all students who have undertaken Faith Hospital’s internship programme return to the Cayman Islands after their studies and in particular to come back to work at Faith Hospital.