PLEDGE CEREMONY – RITES OF PASSAGE
One hundred and four (104) voices at Mona rose in concert reciting the Hippocratic Oath, swearing to practice medicine ethically! As did one hundred and thirty-five (135) in Trinidad, twenty (20) more in Bahamas and another thirty one (31) in Barbados. What an awesome moment - an almost religious quality - when our new medical graduates attain life membership in a distinct fraternity and obtain the license to call themselves Doctors – forever separated from the layman...
"I will remember that I remain a member of society, with special obligations to all my fellow human beings,
those sound of mind and body as well as the infirm.
If I do not violate this oath, may I enjoy life and art, respected while I live and remembered with affection thereafter.
May I always act so as to preserve the finest traditions of my calling and
may I long experience the joy of healing those who seek my help.”
Being the Best We Can Be - 33 Years Later
As we congratulate and welcome our new colleagues to the fold, we are reminded of our own unforgettable experiences of yesteryear, and know we will have a proprietary interest in seeing how these young doctors mature professionally, particularly those new Second Generation Alumni who like so many before them, have followed in their parents footsteps: namely: Lilieth A. Robinson-Bridgewater ’84/Kiri-Ann Bridgewater 2K11; Charlton Collie ’84/Charlton Collie 2K11 ; Victor Coombs ’78/Stefan Coombs 2K11; Leslie Gabay ’80/Kerrie-Ann Gabay 2K11; Ann-Marie Irvine ‘78/Michael Sealy 2K11; Santosh Kulkarni ‘78/Ankita Kulkarni 2K11; Jeff Massay ‘78/ Ryan Massay 2K11.
In the words of one proud parent from Class of 1978, The class of 2011 had 5 members whose parents were members of the Class of 1978. It was reduced to 4 when Marlon Goldson took a year off. As far as I know, the performance of the second generation surpassed the first by miles: Kulkarni did not perform as well as his daughter, I got no honours or prizes, neither did Victor Coombs my best friend nor did Anne Marie Irvine whose son is Dr. Michael Sealy. I suppose that is how it should be. We must make this alumni association work; the foregoing is reason enough.”
--Jeff Massay ’78, - (proud father of Dr. Ryan Massay a UWI medical graduate).
It’s encouraging to see that, forty-two years after I graduated from the FMS at Mona, it continues to produce doctors, some of whom are as talented as the prize winners mentioned above. The fact that I know the fathers of two of the prize winners, one father from Guyana and the other from Trinidad, reminds me of my halcyon days at Mona, where I learnt so much about my fellow Caribbean compatriots, including the fact that some very ‘big’ people came out of places a lot smaller than Jamaica. There is a note of sadness in all this, insofar as Guyana, which produced such formidable students, withdrew completely from the FMS and the rest of UWI.
We must labor to reverse the centrifugal forces of fragmentation and restore the dream of students from various Caribbean nations mingling with each other in our institutions of higher learning. The Alumni has a part to play in this, and I look forward to your support going forward.
Best,
Gerry
Gerald Groves '69
Chairman
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