Guyana’s expanding digital health system is gaining a new wave of trained specialists, with the first cohort of the Digital Health Training Institute completing their programme and preparing to support the country’s transition to more technology-driven healthcare.
Fifteen graduates successfully completed 17 training modules and a two-part final assessment, qualifying them to join the Ministry of Health as Digital Health Specialists.
Their training comes as the ministry continues to expand the use of technology across the public healthcare system, including Electronic Health Records, telemedicine, pharmaceutical management systems and artificial intelligence-supported diagnostic tools.
The new specialists are expected to play a key role in ensuring these systems remain functional, connected and properly supported, helping health workers to access and manage patient information more efficiently.
Minister of Health, Dr Frank Anthony, attended the graduation on Wednesday and said the investment in training is critical because technological advancement must be matched by a workforce capable of operating and sustaining the systems being introduced.
“What we try to do as a ministry is see where we want to go, and if we don’t have the people to take us there, we train people who can give us the technical support,” Dr Anthony said.
The minister said the initiative will help build the technical capacity needed to support Guyana’s national Electronic Health Record system and other digital health platforms as they are expanded across the country.
For patients, the growing digital infrastructure is expected to support more efficient management of health information and improve connectivity between healthcare facilities, while giving health professionals greater access to the information and tools needed to deliver care.
The programme was established through a partnership between Mount Sinai and the Ministry of Health, with support from the Greater Guyana Initiative, as part of efforts to develop a specialised digital health workforce locally.
As the Ministry introduces more technology into healthcare delivery, the 15 graduates are expected to become part of the technical workforce helping to move Guyana’s public health system into a more connected and digitally enabled future.