Mount Sinai's Specialized Skills Are Making a Difference in Guyana

Zijian Chen, MD, is an extremely busy endocrinologist at Mount Sinai Beth Israel. He not only sees patients and serves as Site Director for Endocrinology and Rheumatology, but also heads up the Mount Sinai Health System’s Center for Post-COVID Care.

Why, then, is this much-in-demand professional 2,600 miles away in the remote nation of Guyana for several weeks each year?

In one way, it’s no different from what he does in New York—advancing health care to promote a better quality of life for patients. Except in Guyana, the focus is on one of South America’s poorest populations within a resource-strapped environment. Dr. Chen is part of a 20-member contingent from Mount Sinai International, which seeks to improve local medical care around the globe, and Mount Sinai’s Arnhold Institute for Global Health.

“Our entire team is committed to elevating Guyana’s health care system, whether it’s by improving its supply chain for acquiring medications and equipment, or by helping its doctors take better care of patients through enhanced education and updated medical practice guidelines,” says Dr. Chen. “I’m a diabetes specialist, so my role as part of an eight-member workstream is to rewrite the guidelines for diabetes management and to train doctors so they can become trainers for other providers and health care workers on the front lines.”

That mission has brought Dr. Chen and his colleagues to Guyana, a nation of 741,800 in the northeastern corner of South America, three times over the past year for one-week visits, with at least two more planned for the remainder of this year. While on the ground, they collaborate with other physicians and administrators at Georgetown Public Hospital in the nation’s capital, while also traveling to local clinics and what are known as “health posts” further inland in the hinterlands or the rainforest.

Already, these journeys are having an impact, especially in the field of diabetes.

“We’ve completed the guidelines, which will change the way diabetes care is delivered in the country, now and down the road,” reports Dr. Chen. “And the training we’ve started will build knowledge and expertise within the medical community, allowing doctors to focus on early detection and treatment of diabetes, instead of end-stage complications involving dialysis and amputations. That’s an advantage the people of Guyana have never had before, and the thought of making that kind of difference in their lives is the most rewarding thing for all of us on the Mount Sinai team.”