On Saturday, 3 June, four Caymanian college students sponsored by Health City Cayman Islands depart for India to undertake a month-long fellowship at Narayana Health, the facility founded by Dr. Devi Shetty on which Health City is modelled.
The four students were selected from the highest performing alumni of the 2016 Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Program, to participate in the 2017 Thompson-Chandi Fellowship in Medical Studies.
Five alumni met the qualifications, which included a pass rate of 90 per cent or higher on their SURF case study, a recommendation from their SURF Site Supervisor and a current GPA of 3.25 or equivalent. The short-listed candidates were then interviewed in by an interdisciplinary panel in October 2016.
Alexandra Anglin (Brunel University), Taneil Lee (University College of the Cayman Islands), Stewart Watt (University of Toronto) and Brandon DaCosta (Florida International University) were awarded fellowships in Cardio-thoracic surgery, Oncology, Orthopedics and Neurology respectively.
Health City Cayman Islands will pay all travel and accommodation expenses and also provide a stipend for each fellow.
“It is such an honour to be chosen,” said Miss Lee. “I am looking forward to everything I will learn at Narayana Health.”
Mr. DaCosta was equally enthusiastic. He said, “My goal is to become the first Caymanian neurologist and I am excited to deepen my knowledge of this field by working with the world-class consultants at NH. Who else but Health City could have opened such a door for me? I am very grateful.”
“The Thompson-Chandi Fellowship in Medical Studies is our most senior Healthcare Explorers Program to date,” explained Gene Thompson, Project Director of Health City Cayman Islands and Program Sponsor of the Healthcare Explorers Program.
“We created the fellowship to offer our highest achieving alumni the opportunity to experience tertiary healthcare at Narayana Health, which pioneered the healthcare model we use at Health City Cayman Islands. Simply being chosen as Fellows is an excellent achievement and we are extremely proud of Lexie, Brandon, Taneil and Stewart,” he added. “We are confident they will succeed and the Cayman Islands can expect great things from these future consultants.”
Health City Cayman Islands CEO and Director of Medical Services Dr. Chandy Abraham noted the importance of developing young Caymanians in the medical field.
Dr. Chandy said, “It is vital to get Caymanian students interested in the sciences and on track for a career in the medicine. This Fellowship is an important step in that direction, and is sure to provide the four students with an intense immersion in the Narayana Health model of health care. Health City Cayman Islands is a dedicated teaching institution and our physicians take a supportive role in the future of the Cayman Islands medical fraternity. A research facility and a medical university are among future planned phases, as we seek to further establish medical tourism as a pillar of the Cayman Islands economy. We will need Caymanian health care professionals to be part of the foundation of this success.”
Charles D. Bush, Manager – Mission Integration & Spiritual Care at Health City Cayman Islands explained, “The Healthcare Explorers Program uses a contextual education model. The Thompson-Chandi Fellowship will use that same model and immerse the Fellows in a JCI-accredited, multicultural healthcare system in India.”
“The fellowship at Narayana Health will challenge the Fellows to step out of their comfort zones and quickly become active participants in an interdisciplinary team, in order to flourish. It will immerse them in precisely the type of environment they will find at Health City Cayman Islands when they complete their studies. The Fellowship is their ultimate opportunity to test and adjust their conception of what it means to be a Consultant,” he said.
The Thompson-Chandi Fellowship is part of Health City Cayman Islands’ community outreach mandate. The Healthcare Explorers Program provides contextual medical and STEM education opportunities for Caymanian high school and college students to discern and prepare for careers in the healthcare field. A personal initiative of Dr. Devi Shetty, Chairman of the Board, the program has served 650 students since inception in 2014.
The hospital’s internship program provides participating young Caymanians with unique insights into the inner workings of Health City Cayman Islands. Students are given the opportunity to acquire experience working in departments including cardiothoracic, the laboratory, ICU, anaesthesia, orthopaedic, nursing, administration, maintenance, front office, and marketing.
During the academic year, age-appropriate programs are offered for Years 8-12. During the summer breaks, the program focuses on college students through the SURF program and Nursing Camps. The academic year is closed with an annual Healthcare Explorers Day Camp for 12-14 year olds.
The camp provides an opportunity for children to learn about the inner workings of a hospital and meet doctors, surgeons and nurses. Campers have the opportunity to look “behind the scenes” on a tour of the lab and other clinical areas.
For more information on educations programs available through Health City Cayman Islands, please email healthcare.explorers@healthcity.ky or call 640-4195.
