GPHC gets first paediatric surgeon

The Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) has secured the services of its first paediatric surgeon, Marisa Seepersaud.
After more than 10 years of theoretical and practical studies in the surgical field in Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, the United Kingdom and Canada, Seepersaud has returned to serve Guyana.

She commenced working at the Central Hospital in July after completing her stint at the Mona Campus of the West Indies University in Jamaica.
During an interview with Guyana Times International, Seepersaud said she is committed to her duties and will serve the nation well in saving the future generation. “When I left, the intention was always to return, and all the hospitals that I have worked at had multiple paediatric surgeons, and I knew that home had none, and I felt like my people needed somebody to give them that level of care.”
While there have been many competent surgeons conducting paediatric surgeries at GPHC, none of them specialised in the area.
“In addition to the routine abdominal, chest complaints that you can see in both children and adults, we also deal with urology – in adults there are specialist urologists, but in paediatric surgery, the paediatric surgeon deals with urology, gynaecology… in addition to gastrointestinal issues, and there is another section of paediatric surgery – antenatal,” Seepersaud told this publication as she listed the services now being offered under her stewardship at the GPHC Paediatric Ward.
She has already tackled a number of minor cases, as she waits on the administration to equip the Paediatric Surgical Department with specialised equipment, such as neonatal instruments needed to operate on babies.
“I have gone through the clinic, and I have seen quite a number of interesting cases – many of the smaller and middle level cases we have tackled already. There are some complex cases that are to be done shortly, but we are awaiting specialised equipment and instruments in order for us to get to that.”
In addition, the surgeon is sharing her wealth of knowledge and expertise with the nursing staff and even doctors, as she strives to take the paediatric ward to new heights. “Not here to create a monopoly, but I am here to set the standard of surgical care for children; there are many competent surgeons who operate on children so it’s their duty to keep up-to-date, that they follow the current practice guidelines.”
Prior to taking up her new post at the GPHC, Seepersaud served as the chief resident paediatric surgeon at the University of the West Indies Hospital from August 2011 to March 2012. At the time she was managing inpatient care, including emergency and elective surgical intervention, outpatients follow up clinics, surgical referrals, and antenatal referrals.
During the period December 2010- August 2011, she executed similar duties at the Bustamante Hospital for Children. While in Jamaica from 2002 to 2004, Seepersaud was trained in four surgical areas: urology, paediatric surgery, neurosurgery, cardiothoracic surgery, and orthopaedics.
Additionally, she participated in a series of training sessions such as the Alberto Pena workshop on the Treatment of Anorectal Malformations, Cincinnati, Ohio in 2006 and a Workshop on Ethics in Neonatal Surgical Practice in Toronto, Canada in the same year. These are just a few of the courses Seepersaud has taken to date.