Doctor gets injunction against Education Ministry to take up US studies

A NATIONAL scholarship winner is expected to take up a three-year fellowship at the University of New Mexico (UNM) in the United States in July after he received an emergency injunction against the Ministry of Education.

On April 29, Justice Jacqueline Wilson ordered the Ministry of Education to “immediately process” Dr Rajeev Seecheran’s request to defer his obligatory service for three years and issue a request for non-objection so that the Ministry of Health could issue a statement of need so he could pursue his fellowship in nephrology critical care in Albuquerque.

The judge also ordered the Health Ministry to issue the statement of need within 24 hours of receiving the Education Ministry’s request.

Chief Medical Officer Dr Roshan Parasram wrote to the Education Ministry’s permanent secretary on April 30, advising there was no objection to the doctor deferring his obligatory service to take up the fellowship since the area of specialisation was needed in the TT health sector. He also received the relevant documentation from the Education Ministry.

His judicial review application said he received an additional scholarship in 2012. He received his Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine.

The scholarship agreement stipulated that after receiving his MBBS, he would enter into obligatory service for five years with a medical internship for a year or repay the money to the Government.

Seecheran completed his studies in 2017 and submitted his scholarship reporting form to the Education ministry’s scholarship and advanced training division but was told that the ministry was “having difficulties in finding placement for scholarship winners with medical degrees.”

The application said Seecheran was “devastated” since he could not become a doctor without completing the mandatory internship.

“He was simply told that he should await word from them about his placement as an internship.”

Seecheran’s application said he was advised by a scholarship officer to seek a deferral which was never processed or approved by the ministry.

His application said from September 2017 to March 2019, “in order to avoid wasting time doing nothing,” while waiting for placement, he decided to pursue the US medical licensing examination, informing the ministry.

The application also said there was no objection from the ministry nor did he receive word on placement on his internship.

In March 2019, he again, as advised, applied for a retroactive deferral to account for the two-year period.

By July 2019, he was finally placed as an intern and was told to re-send his application for retroactive deferral and did so for a third time. However, his application said he was told since he had not been employed and did not have an offer for residency, a deferral was not required for the two-year period and the advice he was given was misconstrued.

He completed his internship and was waiting for placement but this did not take place.

Seecheran also unsuccessfully tried getting work at two regional health authorities as well as in the private sector.

While still awaiting placement, in March 2021, he was offered a residency at the University of Kansas. He sought a deferral to pursue the residency and applied for a statement of need from the Health Ministry.

Seecheran received the relevant documentation from the Health Ministry but nothing from the Education Ministry but assumed his deferral request was granted.

He began his residency in July 2021, which is expected to end in June. In February 2022, he was advised by the Education Ministry he was in breach of contract since he assisted in a non-paying capacity at the Trinidad Institute of Medical Technology, where his brother worked.

He received the offer from the UMN on December 4, 2023. He again sought a deferral and the relevant documentation from the two ministries so he could accept the fellowship offer and extend his visa sponsorship status.

In March, he was told his deferral request was being addressed but in April, he was told to resubmit it, which, his application said, alarmed him because he was assured it was being processed.

On April 2, his father was told by the Health Ministry the statement of need could not be issued unless the Education Ministry issued an official request for non-objection.

Several attempts were made to get the request from the Education Ministry and he was eventually told that his first deferral was never granted. Seecheran’s application said he has been “dragged” through the “slog of public administration.”

In her order, Wilson also permitted Seecheran to pursue his judicial review claim against the ministry. His case has been transferred to Justice Nadia Kangaloo, who is expected to fix a date for a hearing.

Seecheran is represented by Anand Ramlogan, SC, and Jayanti Lutchmedial. Kent Samlal, Natasha Bisram and Aasha Ramlal.