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"To give is to receive - if you give
of your best in whatever you do, your reward will come."
Professor Emeritus Errol Walrond
Professor Emeritus Errol Walrond began his
medical career when there were few trained surgeons in Barbados.
He practised general, chest and heart surgery and spent 45 years
contributing to the progress of medicine in Barbados, writing
over 100 publications on medical research, health policies and
services, and medical ethics.
Errol Walrond, fondly
known as Mickey, was born in Bridgetown, Barbados on 19th March,
1936. He attended Wesley Hall Primary School and Harrison
College where he earned a Barbados Scholarship, with which he
entered Guy's Hospital Medical School in England. In his
final year, the funding was cut. He had successfully
completed his Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Anatomy by that time,
so he supported himself by working while studying. He
completed his medical degree in 1961 and became a Fellow of the
Royal College of Surgeons in 1964.
Dr Walrond returned to
Barbados in 1965 as a Senior Surgical Registrar at the Queen
Elizabeth Hospital and became a lecturer at The University of
the West Indies (UWI), Mona, Jamaica in 1968. He returned
to Barbados in 1974 and became a professor in 1977. Over a
period of 25 years, he served as Vice Dean and Dean of the
Faculty of Medicine at UWI, Cave Hill, Barbados. He
expanded and improved the Faculty programmes. He extended
the clerkship programme, allowing the entry of students from
other UWI campuses into the programme, and providing more
alternatives for students choosing elective courses.
Graduates were also given more options for residency training in
the hospitals and the Cave Hill Campus became the only UWI
campus that trained doctors in emergency medicine for many
years.
 Professor
Walrond was the first Chairman of the National Advisory
Committee on AIDS in Barbados and served from 1987 to 1994.
During this time, an HIV/AIDS information centre, a telephone
hotline and an HIV/AIDS management team were established.
His strategy to combat the spread of the virus used television,
newspapers and radio to educate the public about the spread and
impact of the disease.
In 2001, Professor Walrond retired and was
given the title of Professor Emeritus. He became the
Founding President of the Caribbean College of Surgeons, which
seeks to set standards for surgeons in the practice of surgery
and surgical education. In 2004, he served as the Chairman
of the newly formed Caribbean Accreditation Authority for
Education in Medicine and the Other Health Professions. In
2005, he released a book entitled Ethical Practice in Everyday
Health Care.
He advises students to, "Make the best of
what you have. It is you who make the place you live what
you want it to be. Never let problems overwhelm you."
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