Trini surgeon gets top British award

WHEN Professor Vijay Naraynsingh was awarded the Chaconia Gold Medal in 1991 for his outstanding work in the field of medicine, he was elated and overjoyed. That was one of the greatest moments in his career.

Now, 12 years later, Prof Naraynsingh has gone further...where no other practitioner in the Caribbean has so far entered. He has just returned from England where he was made a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. Naraynsingh became the first Trinidadian and doctor from the Caribbean to become a Fellow without having to write the examination to achieve such status. The award was given as recognition for his achievement in the international surgical fraternity.

Sunday Newsday caught up with Prof Naraynsingh at Medical Associates in St Joseph last Thursday. “I am very pleased with this honour. I am extremely happy. It is recognition from the international community for the work which is done in this region.” Prof Naraynsingh said while the honour was bestowed on him, he is part of a team. “I will not regard this award as a solo effort. It is a success of work carried out by a lot of people over many years.” He said he was not surprised at the award since he had contributed so much and so consistently to the international surgical world. “My work is very well known in the Caribbean and outside,” he added.

Prof Naraynsingh said he felt proud when he collected the award in London on July 9. This achievement adds to others in the past — Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh 1978, Fellow of the International College of Angiology 1983, Fellow of the International College of Surgeons 1984, and Fellow of the American College of Surgeons 1987. Very few persons, he added, knows of this recent achievement. But this crowning achievement is not the only one on the cards for Prof Naraynsingh.  He became the first Caribbean doctor to be made an examiner of the Royal College of Surgeons in England for post graduate surgery. He has been doing this with the University of the West Indies for the past 15 years, but this recent appointment has created quite a stir in the medical field.

Prof Naraynsingh has had more than 160 of his articles published in medical journals around the world. His work is known in the United States, United Kingdom, Europe, Australia and Canada. “I am easily one of the most well-known practitioners in the world...they all know my work.” Prof Naraynsingh, 53, attended Hillview College, Tunapuna before going to Queen’s Royal College to do his “A” Levels. He went to the University of the West Indies in Jamaica to study medicine. He got his BSc in Anatomy in 1971 from St Thomas Hospital Medical College in London, and three years later, he graduated from UWI with a Surgery Gold Medal.

Naraynsingh has two Professorships — another unique achievement. His major post is Professor of Surgery at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital, which he received from UWI in 1999. Two years later, he was given a Professorship of the Department of Surgery. He operates out of the Port-of-Spain General Hospital where UWI does the bulk of surgical teaching. When he is not at the city hospital, he is engaged in his private practice at Medical Associates in St Joseph.
Where does he go from here?

Prof Naraynsingh wants to continue the international networking for the practitioners in the Caribbean. He has been invited to Hong Kong and India later this year. “I feel it is very good for us to share experiences and to learn from others, especially Third World people. I want to continue learning. This is an on-going educational exercise, I learn every day.” Prof Naraynsingh admitted that he had already designed nine operations which have never been performed anywhere in the world before. He is heavily involved in religious work and community service. With the assistance of other doctors at Medical Associates, Prof Naraynsingh said that one week is put aside each year where they perform 108 operations free of charge to needy people. This, he added, started in 1993 and will continue.