Hit TV show CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is helping inspire young Bermudians to counter the Island’s shortage of home-grown doctors, say medics.

Hospital bosses say their Undergraduate Development Programme — designed to encourage graduates to embark on long-term medicine careers in Bermuda instead of overseas — is already showing promising signs since being launched last year.

Under the scheme, hospital staff visit schools, while older students are given the chance to shadow surgeons, pathologists and other doctors to whet their appetite to work at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital.

Department of Pathology head Dr. Clyde Wilson was chosen to run the scheme, partly because health bosses wanted to take advantage of a current surge in interest in forensic pathology as a result of popular series such as CSI.

“Programmes like CSI have certainly stimulated a lot of young people’s interest in forensic science pathology in general,” said Dr. Wilson.

“A lot of students will come on tours and ask questions about forensics. The question is whether, when they know all the lengthy training involved, students will still want to become forensic pathologists. And in an Island like Bermuda, where you only need one forensic pathologist, we may not be able to find a job for them all.

“But CSI might be the kind of thing to get their attention. Upon coming in and talking to us, and having the opportunity to see the other disciplines within pathology, microbiology and biochemistry, they may decide they want to work here.”

Currently about 30 young Bermudians, mostly medical students based in the Caribbean, the US, Canada or the UK, are taking part in the undergraduate scheme.

The programme also targets children, with team members Debra Byrd and Linda Trott liasing with schools. A number of schools yesterday visited the pathology department for an open house event.

Dr. Wilson, a consultant microbiologist, said it was vital Bermuda did everything it could to keep its young health workers.

“Bermuda is small, and to some extent what we can offer is limited compared to the US, Canada or England, especially to someone who has hunger for knowledge,” he said. “You go away to school, you work with highly respectable institutions that are world class, and with that comes a variety of opportunities.

“We need to do something to keep them in Bermuda. Non-Bermudians are providing a fantastic service to our clients, but over time we would like to see more Bermudians filling roles.

“When you take a department like oncology, although the current unit is doing a superb job, it’s long-term care. It would really help if you had someone here who was going to be here for an indefinite period of time so you could build up a rapport with your patients.

“If we can get the young people interested at an early stage and develop or cultivate a relationship with us professionals, it would probably make them feel a part of the institution. When they go away to study, they would want to come back and work with us.”

Dr. Wilson has spent much of his career in London, where he has worked on similar undergraduate projects, but returned to Bermuda because of family links around two years ago.

This week’s open house event gave the public chance to look around the pathology department, which is one of the key areas of the hospital.

The department, which carries out laboratory tests on blood, body fluids and tissues, provides critical data used by doctors to diagnose and treat medical conditions. Around 70 percent of a patient’s record is made up of information gathered there.

Dr. Wilson said: “We know that, although we might not have patient contact as much as physicians or surgeons, the part we are playing, albeit behind the scenes, makes an important difference to the patient’s progress.”

Visitors had the chance to check out state-of-the-art equipment such as the recently purchased $150,000 Vitek 2 machine, which enables doctors to quickly identify bacteria in samples.

A Bermuda Hospitals Board spokeswoman said: “We always encourage Bermudians to consider healthcare as a career path. An event like today gives a lot of children a chance to see what goes on in a department such as this.”