Emergency Medicine in Guyana: Lessons from Developing the Country's First Degree-conferring Residency Program.

Introduction: Academic departments of emergency medicine are becoming increasingly involved in assisting with the development of long-term emergency medicine training programs in low and middle-income countries. This article presents our 10-year experience working with local partners to improve emergency medical care education in Guyana.

Methods: The Vanderbilt Department of Emergency Medicine has collaborated with the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation on the development of Emergency Medicine skills followed by the implementation of an emergency medicine residency training program.

Patient perspectives on opt-out HIV screening in a Guyanese emergency department.

In 2007, the WHO recommended that healthcare providers in areas of a generalised HIV epidemic perform HIV testing on all adults and adolescents presenting for healthcare. Studies regarding patient acceptability of opt-out testing, however, have reported wide variation in acceptance rates. This study examines patient-reported acceptability of such testing at the emergency department (ED) of Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation, the largest public hospital in Guyana.

Who leaves the emergency department without being seen? A public hospital experience in Georgetown, Guyana.

Background: Left without being seen (LWBS) proportions are commonly used as quality control indicators, but little data is available on LWBS proportions in the developing world. This study sought to determine the proportion and characteristics of patients who LWBS from the emergency department (ED) of the main public hospital in Georgetown, Guyana.

Methods: This is a retrospective cross-sectional analysis of an ED quality assurance database.

Prevalence of intimate partner violence in patients presenting with traumatic injuries to a Guyanese emergency department.

Background: Intimate partner violence (IPV) occurs throughout the world, and has both short- term and long- term negative health effects. Little is know about the prevalence of IPV in patients presenting to Emergency Departments (EDs) in the developing world. This information is needed to help delineate the scope of the problem and shape effective interventions to combat IPV.