Their parents wore the badge, they chose the stethoscope

WESTERN BUREAU:

When 24-year-old Ashli McCarthy arrived in Guyana four years ago, she knew almost nobody, had no local currency, and carried little more than her ambition to become a doctor.

“All I had was my Scotiabank card and a dream,” she recalled.

Today, the Montego Bay native is in her fifth and final year at the University of Guyana, having navigated homesickness, financial challenges and the demands of medical school with the support of her parents and a close-knit community of Jamaican students.

Among those students is 20-year-old Tiara Hayles, whose own journey to becoming a doctor might never have materialised without the intervention of McCarthy’s father, Ainsley.

Both young women are graduates of Montego Bay High School for Girls and daughters of Jamaican police officers. Their families are connected through longstanding friendships and the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF).

For Ainsley McCarthy and his wife, Diana, an airline supervisor, financing Ashli’s medical education meant juggling the expenses of two children attending university simultaneously.

Their son, Christian, was studying engineering at the University of Technology, Jamaica.

“It was very difficult, as I had two children at university at the time,” McCarthy said.

He explained that tuition, accommodation and daily living expenses placed considerable pressure on the family budget.

Fortunately, the couple had begun saving early, setting aside money through JMMB to assist with their children’s education.

Sacrifices were unavoidable

Still, sacrifices were unavoidable.

“We made a lot of sacrifices along the way, putting off planned renovations and delaying other projects that we planned to do,” he said.

One unexpected source of financial relief came in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa, which devastated sections of Jamaica in October 2025.

According to McCarthy, the University of Guyana waived tuition for approximately six Jamaican students enrolled at the institution, saving each family an estimated J$1 million.

The assistance offered welcome relief to families already making substantial financial commitments to educate their children overseas.

Mr McCarthy said he was particularly grateful for the support, which came as his daughter continued her demanding medical programme.

For Ashli, the decision to study in Guyana had been driven largely by affordability.

She said she was quoted approximately US$28,000 annually to pursue medicine at The University of the West Indies (The UWI), compared with US$9,000 at the University of Guyana.

“Medical education in Jamaica, if you don’t have the money, is borderline unattainable,” she said.

Initially enrolled at Anhui Medical University in China, she changed course after learning about the difficulties some overseas-trained graduates experienced when seeking to practise medicine in Jamaica.

Advice from Dr Sheena McLean, a Guyanese graduate of the University of Guyana who worked at Cornwall Regional Hospital, eventually led her to Georgetown.

But McCarthy’s involvement in medical education did not end with his own daughter.

When he saw Tiara’s outstanding Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination results, he recognised another young woman with the potential to become a doctor.

He approached her parents, Cordia Ashley and Theodore Hayles, both his friends and colleagues in the JCF, and encouraged them to consider the University of Guyana.

“There was something about Tiara that reminded me of Ashli – determined, goal-oriented and the ability to help others,” he said.

He believed medicine was the perfect fit for her.

At the time, Hayles had been accepted to study medicine and nursing at The UWI, but had opted for nursing because of the prohibitive cost of medical school.

She had already begun attending nursing classes when her acceptance from Guyana arrived.

Her mother said the greatest concern had always been the cost of studying medicine in Jamaica.

However, she had been prepared to support her daughter’s decision to pursue nursing.

“I was just content that she chose a career she was happy with, as she always said, if it wasn’t medicine, then nursing would be her second choice,” Ashley explained.

When the acceptance letter arrived, the family was overjoyed.

“We were elated that she had an opportunity to pursue her dream,” Ashley said.

She and her husband examined the costs and concluded that, with some sacrifices, they could make it work.

“We were just happy we could assist her on the career path she truly wanted.”

For Tiara, medicine is also deeply personal.

Family’s unofficial

first-aid provider

As a child growing up in St James, she was the family’s unofficial first-aid provider, tending to minor injuries with bandages and ointments.

Her ambition intensified when her grandmother developed kidney failure associated with diabetes.

She accompanied her grandmother to dialysis appointments and promised that one day she would become a doctor and care for her.

Her grandmother died as Tiara was transitioning from primary to high school.

“I used to always tell her that I’m going to grow up and come and take care of her,” she recalled.

Now in her second year of medicine, with a 3.8 grade point average, Tiara is determined to honour that promise.

“I’m doing it partially for her, but also for that little girl that wanted to take care of her family.”

For both students, adapting to life overseas has required resilience.

McCarthy recalls arriving in Georgetown in 2022 with no Guyanese currency and depending on the kindness of other students and acquaintances to settle in.

Unable to return home for her first Christmas because of high airfares, she joined other Jamaican students in preparing a communal Christmas dinner.

“Everybody’s ovens and stoves were in use, and we had a big spread,” she recalled.

That gathering helped create a support network that would later embrace Tiara.

Initially overwhelmed by homesickness, Tiara credits Ashli and the other Jamaican students with helping her adjust.

“I attribute a big part of my success and my adaptation here to her,” she said.

Both women hope their experiences will encourage other Jamaican students to explore affordable medical education opportunities while carefully researching the recognition of overseas qualifications.

As Ashli approaches graduation, her father says the years of sacrifice have been worthwhile.

He is particularly proud that all three of his children have completed at least a first degree, with Ashli now approaching the end of her medical studies.

For the McCarthy and Hayles families, the journey has demanded financial discipline, personal sacrifices and unwavering faith in their daughters’ abilities.

And, for two young women who once faced the possibility of abandoning their preferred career paths, the dream of becoming doctors is now within reach.

janet.silvera@gleanerjm.com