Nearly twenty years after going dormant, the Barbados Chapter of the University of the West Indies Medical Alumni Association (UWIMAA) is being reactivated, with scores of graduates rallying to rebuild one of the region’s key professional networks.
A recent reunion and resurgence event, titled Keeping the Pulse, brought together about 80 alumni spanning graduation years 1964 to 2025, held at the Cave Hill campus.
This was the second event held to reboot the organisation. The first, dubbed Resuscitating Connections, also received the support of the Faculty of Medical Sciences, in collaboration with the Office of UWI Alumni Relations at the Cave Hill Campus.
Founded in 1984, the Barbados chapter began its revitalisation efforts in 2023.
Professor Peter Adams, immediate past dean of the Faculty of Medical Sciences (FMS) at Cave Hill and chair of the Barbados Chapter Interim Committee, recalled that Dr Michael Hoyos (1966 graduate) handed over to him chapter funds accumulated during its active years.
This was followed in 2024 by a focus group of Barbados alumni that the UWIMAA central executive held to explore ideas for revitalising the Barbados chapter, and by the dedication and teamwork of the interim committee, which has been meeting regularly since then.
UWI medical alumni have ascended to prominent leadership roles on local, regional, and international platforms, serving as vital pillars for the next generation of healthcare professionals who will continue to elevate the field of medicine.
One major goal of the interim planning committee has been updating the mailing list, which, through the efforts of Professor Anne St John – noted for her remarkable memory of the students she taught at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital over many decades – and assisted by Dr Joanne Paul-Charles and her attention to detail, now has approximately 800 names.
“It is a privilege to be integrally involved in the vital revival of the UWIMAA Barbados Chapter, and the response to the event by medical alumni is encouraging and augurs well for the way forward and accomplishment of the organisation’s goals,” Professor St John said.
The chapter is fostering a close relationship with the FMS Medical Students’ Association (MSA). The faculty has already set up a faculty liaison committee to facilitate this.
Dr Lynn-Marie Lovell, chair of a faculty committee, sees much benefit in such collaboration.
“The strong turnout and renewed interest reflect the value of reconnecting. Our newer graduates were able to engage with stalwarts of Barbadian medicine, underscoring the importance of building community across generations of UWI medical graduates, in order to foster strong mentorship,” Dr Lovell stated.
Professor Adams noted that the central executive had raised an endowment of $3.6 million (US$1.8m) and growing, and had already funded 47 scholarships for deserving medical students across the UWI clinical sites.
Dr Jeff Massey recalled that the Barbados chapter had funded several projects within the Barbados healthcare system in its early years and that the renewed association would look for areas to assist.
The next step for the association is a membership drive, to be followed by a general meeting to elect a committee to hold office. The excitement and large number of alumni who attended the two events augur well for a rebirth of the chapter after a long period of dormancy.
The alumni community currently has more than 12 000 medical graduates, with chapters now in Jamaica, Central Florida, Trinidad and Tobago, Canada, and the Eastern Caribbean.
(EJ/PR)
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