For Sasha Bentham, the dream of becoming a doctor was not born from a single defining moment. It developed gradually, shaped by compassion, personal experiences and a deep desire to help people when they need it most.
Recently graduated from the University of Guyana, Bentham grew up in Trinidad, where she completed her primary and secondary education before returning to Guyana to pursue a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology.
Now, after years of perseverance, she is preparing to leave Guyana for China, where she will spend the next five years studying medicine under the Guyana-China scholarship programme.
For Bentham, medicine is more than a career choice. It is rooted in the moments when she felt unable to help the people closest to her.
“I am someone who cares and feels deeply for individuals. So, whenever I feel helpless, or I can’t help them, that’s when I feel sad,” she explained.
Those feelings became particularly personal through the experiences of her father, who battles rheumatoid arthritis, and her sister struggling with asthma.
Watching them cope with their conditions strengthened Sasha’s determination to understand the human body and eventually acquire the knowledge needed to help others.
Her ambitions extend beyond simply becoming a doctor. Bentham hopes to contribute to the development of Guyana’s health sector and inspire future generations of medical professionals.
“I want to make a change in the health sector,” she said. “I want to be different, an example for future doctors who come.”
While her long-term goal is still taking shape, Bentham already has an interest in orthopaedics, a field closely connected to her father’s condition. However, her immediate focus is on becoming a well-rounded physician and making the most of the opportunity ahead.
Not an easy road
Although Bentham maintained strong grades throughout primary and secondary school, university presented challenges she had not anticipated. Her third year was particularly difficult after she fell ill and struggled to keep pace with the workload.
However, rather than allowing the setback to define her journey, she pushed herself to recover academically during her final year.
“I was like, I want to be coming out with good grades, and these little grades wouldn’t take me where I need to be,” she recalled. “So, I pushed myself, and I built up my GPA.”
That determination would prove important as she pursued an opportunity she had always wanted: studying medicine abroad.
The scholarship opportunity came through a friend she met at UG, who encouraged her to apply. Bentham would later submit her application and was contacted for a preliminary interview with the Ministry of Public Service, Government Efficiency and Implementation.
She was shortlisted and moved on to the second round of interviews conducted by the Chinese Embassy. The process then continued with an online application and an examination covering mathematics, physics, chemistry and Chinese.
Subsequently, Bentham received the news she had been waiting for.
“I wasn’t expecting it, to be honest,” she admitted. But her father had encouraged her throughout the process, urging her to believe in herself as though she had already succeeded.
According to Bentham, the scholarship represents far more than financial assistance. It represents confidence placed in her potential by two countries and an opportunity to pursue a dream that might otherwise have remained out of reach.
“To me, it’s more than financial aid,” she said. “It tells me that the Governments of China and Guyana put their full trust in my potential to become a future doctor.”
She also sees the programme as evidence of the importance of investing in young people and creating opportunities for those who have the ambition but may not have the financial means to pursue their dreams abroad.
As she prepares to travel to China, Bentham is looking forward to the academic experience and the opportunity to immerse herself in a new culture.
“I will be looking to bring back what I have learned in a different culture,” she said, adding that she hopes to learn about different approaches to medicine and share that knowledge with future colleagues in Guyana.