March 7, 2024 • 18 mins
When determination meets opportunity, extraordinary stories unfold. That's precisely what you'll hear as I, Carlene Humphrey, host an intimate chat with Dr. Diego Humphrey—an embodiment of resilience and academic triumph. We journey through the halls of St. George's University in Grenada, a cradle of medical excellence, and discuss its origins tied to Charles Modica's vision and Eric Gairy's support. Uncle Dee, as we affectionately call him, recounts his early days as a pioneering Grenadian student, overcoming the skepticism of his qualifications and the intense dedication required to grasp the American medical system's complexities.
Our conversation takes an even deeper turn as Uncle D bares the soul of a cardiologist, sharing not just the rigorous path of residency and fellowship that shaped his expertise, but also the moments of financial strife and personal sacrifice. He recounts a pivotal experience in an ICU that cemented his calling, and we marvel at his perseverance to secure a place among the esteemed medical community in Philadelphia. This episode isn't just a testament to Uncle Dee's journey; it's a beacon of inspiration for anyone who dreams of wearing the white coat but doubts the possibility. So, lend us your ears, and let the story of Uncle Dee's ascent to a lauded cardiologist stir your heart and ignite your aspirations.
Thanks for listening to Nutmeg Nation - I would like to thank my Editor Sean for helping with the audio of show, thanks to my Designer Yim for creating the logo and images for the show and thanks to my Guests!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Dr. Humphrey (00:01):
Welcome to Nutmeg Nation with Carlene Humphrey.
Carlene (00:05):
Hi, I'm Carlene and this is Nutmeg Nation.
I am your host and I have withme on Zoom Dr Diego Humphrey,
and he's in Oklahoma.
Hi, diego, hi.
Dr. Humphrey (00:19):
Dr, Diego, hi Carlene, how are you Carlene,
uncle D, that's just fine, I'llcall you Uncle D.
Carlene (00:24):
Okay, yeah, there you go.
Yeah, we've made itprofessional.
Dr. Humphrey (00:30):
We're ready and that will take care of that
Going forward, Uncle Dee.
Carlene (00:35):
So tell me, for those that don't know a lot about St
George's University, what is itabout the school that brings so
many students to the country?
Dr. Humphrey (00:47):
Well, basically the school started with Charles
Mordechar.
He was attempting to go tomedical school himself and then
he became professionally as alawyer.
But then he had his idea to getaway with his father to start
off a medical school it'sunknown to be in the Caribbean
(01:08):
eventually, in Grenadaeventually but to provide access
to many of the good studentsactually who were trying to get
into medicine and was not ableto do it Unfortunately.
He met with Eric Gary, ourprime minister at the time, who
also had a fantastic idea to tryto promote education in Grenada
(01:32):
, and there came up with thatoff-island, offshore for US
medical school, and so the firstchartered class was, I think,
1977.
It took off from there.
Right now, the majority ofstudents that started the school
were Americans and theagreement or arrangement that
(01:55):
they had is to start providingscholarships to Grenadians.
Unfortunately, I was among thefirst Grenadians that went into
the medical school.
It was five of us and, lo andbehold, some way along the way
the other four dropped off and Istruggled through the whole
(02:18):
process and eventually got my MD.
I didn't know that.
Yeah, it was, and I think youremember it was what Charmaine
Steele, jennifer Edwards, rayCharles, clinton, lewis and
myself you remember everyone inyour class.
Yeah, because it was a specialgroup and everything was new to
(02:39):
us.
As a matter of fact, we did nothave the pre-med or master's
degree to go into the schoolitself.
So they joined up with TruthMcConnell College in Georgia,
cleveland, georgia, and theyallowed a pre-med program
designed for us as Grenadians,and then that's how we were able
(03:03):
to make the first semester intothe school accepted, into the
school itself.
Carlene (03:10):
When you think about med school, a lot of programs
like you either study in theUnited States or Canada, like if
you were in India and you comehere you can't just practice
medicine.
It doesn't interpret the sameway.
I guess it's because of thesystem, right?
Like you were able to study theAmerican system in Grenada,
(03:33):
which makes it easier to studyanywhere in the US, right?
Dr. Humphrey (03:37):
It's a somewhat difficult thing for us.
Well, for me, as a Grenadianand not a US citizen, I could
not, and that's how I end up inEngland.
I could not.
After finishing the first twoyears of training in Grenada, I
couldn't come up to the US tostudy the clinicals.
(03:58):
So we end up in England anddoing the clinical rotations out
there and then come back to theUS after graduation.
Essentially, oh, okay, it was adifficult time because growing
years for the school and for thestudents in there it's like the
test of the actual programitself.
(04:20):
That's a separate topic of itsown, oh okay.
Because, yeah, it was adifficult thing in every step
that we had to go through.
Initially, us hospitals werevery rejectful of our students.
They didn't want to accept ourstudents to begin with, and a
(04:42):
lot of work and arrangement thatDr Modico had with professors,
even some retirees, and througharrangement with them where
they're practiced, they wereable to get our students to
enter the program like residencyand training, like that.
(05:03):
Most of the students they justwork the dickens out, work very
hard and once they get into anyprogram they just continue to
work like crazy, I would say,and that just showed them.
Even myself personally, that'swhat happened Once I get into
the program.
It took me quite a while to getinto the US residency training,
but once I got in, you justwork yourself to make sure that
(05:26):
you're well known for what youare essentially.
Carlene (05:29):
Yeah, you're trying to make your mark in the program.
Dr. Humphrey (05:32):
Yeah, yeah, I mean , you get a chance and you make
the best of it.
Matter of fact, after Ifinished my residency in
internal medicine, I was one ofthe first that chose for the
Cardiology Fellowship because ofthe features that I showed as a
resident in internal medicine.
Carlene (05:48):
Talking about your education, it obviously stems
from where growing up in Grenadaand going to school and then
realizing that this is somethingthat you wanna do.
So I read that your aunt wasyour kind of like a little bit
of an inspiration or someonethat helped you decide that this
(06:11):
is something you wanted to do.
Dr. Humphrey (06:13):
Well, yes, that's correct, aunt Tijou, teacher
German is one.
Carlene (06:17):
Yeah, teacher German.
Yes, Bless her heart.
Dr. Humphrey (06:19):
Yeah, bless her heart, yeah, and may she
continue to rest in peace.
You know, when she did districtnursing in Bolio, I remember
vividly when she did the clinic,there were certain days that
they do different types ofclinic, and happened to wander
into the clinic and I just got asense of what they were doing
(06:42):
and taking care of wounds and socome in there, different things
like that.
So that's where the caring partwent into it for me.
The rest of it, though, if Ihad to speak on one thing, it's
just the gift that I got, reallyyeah.
Yeah, you know, because thingsopened out for me in certain
(07:04):
ways.
I give you a little story.
Actually, you may not know that, and a lot of people might not
know that I never really likedschool.
You know it's not enough inBruchkov.
Carlene (07:14):
Really.
Yeah, I looked at that.
I looked at something new.
Dr. Humphrey (07:18):
Yeah, it's a funny story.
You know, we grew up in NezHouse.
My grandmother's house is rightnext to Johnson Estate and
right there, you know, there wasa little river, a little creek
that runs across the road, andright in the estate there were
lots of things to do.
And so when the mommy sent meto school that was Bruchkov RSC
(07:38):
school at that time I neverreally went to school, I just
stayed on the estate and playand things like that.
And you know I would go homeafter school or lunchtime
because we walked up fromBruchkov to Nez House and shot
here and then mommy would comeup and say what did you learn in
school today?
Abc.
You know what I mean, abc, youknow.
(08:00):
So for after a while it wasjust ABC alone and it didn't
know much.
So they get a sense, you get asense that he was not going to
school.
And, a matter of fact, theworkers in the estate told mommy
he was not going to school.
At 10 o'clock they would seehim playing by the river or
things like that.
So finally she brought it.
(08:20):
It's a funny story, but shebrought me to this bar friend
that she had was a policeofficer.
He said you need to go toschool, Otherwise he'll put me
in that little jail in there.
And he showed me that littletwo-eyed, two-cell.
Oh my god, I cannot go in therehere.
From that time I started goingto school and it took off from
(08:43):
there.
I mean, I was just knowingeverything and you know, and
everything just fall into place.
Carlene (08:50):
Wow, I mean, what a way to really give you a picture of
your life.
Dr. Humphrey (08:55):
Like I mean, how old were you when he told you
that Like you know, you know youbring it thing back to mine now
I was by the time mom moved medown from Berserk over to Grand
Dance.
I was like 13 years old, yeah,and at that time, to tell you
the honest truth, I haddifficulties even spelling my
name.
My middle name was, like,sebastian, I didn't even able to
(09:16):
spell my name.
Carlene (09:18):
I didn't even realize that that's your middle name
until.
I read it out, I was just likeoh, sebastian, I'm like, now I
know why Sebastian has his name.
That makes sense.
You know, sebastian's my cousin, uncle Diego's son.
But yeah, it's wow, what astory.
I find it so interesting to hearthe things that we did when we
were children.
Right, I was telling someoneabout me and Grenada and I
(09:42):
didn't skip school, but I didsomething.
I just remember writing aboutthis today, uncle D I actually
there were snacks in school.
I remember this uh vaguely, butI think you pay like a quarter
for the snack and somehow,because it was so good, I use my
bus fare to buy another snack.
And then, when it came time forme to go home, I don't know if
(10:05):
I had to walk or if I had to askI think maybe the principal or
someone had to give me money toget on the bus.
And I think I've gotten so muchtrouble when I got home after
that because they're like whydid you use?
Like I use my extra money,right, because they give you
money for your, your recesssnack and for your bus fare and
I just use both.
I'm like, oh my gosh, you knowlike the things that I did when
(10:28):
I was younger.
So it's just interesting thatyou weren't even going to class.
You're kind of playing like TomSawyer, but that was.
Dr. Humphrey (10:35):
You know that was the young age, yeah 13.
That's so yeah, after that whenmom, when mom brought me down
to Grand Dance, it was a totaldifferent story.
Then I was so serious.
I tell you, the teacher, didn't, you know, pay attention to
what they were doing?
I would go home and complain tomommy.
You know that teacher is notdoing right.
(10:56):
You know you should send me toa different school, yeah.
Oh my gosh, that's sointeresting Wow.
Carlene (11:02):
Talking about memories, like I, because you grew like
you were growing up in the 80s.
Do you remember the invasion inGrenada?
Dr. Humphrey (11:11):
The invasion time I was in England.
Carlene (11:14):
Oh, you were.
Dr. Humphrey (11:15):
Yeah, that was 83.
Yeah, that's where I was doingmy clinical rotation then.
Now I do remember the one I wasin shape of school in the 70s.
We had a lot of demonstrationat that time we participated in.
I participated in some of them,you know, but the invasion time
now was in England at that time.
Carlene (11:35):
So the part I think I want to understand is med school
, because you said you only didtwo years and that was it.
Did you do four?
Dr. Humphrey (11:43):
years.
That's treatment, that'streatment.
Carlene (11:45):
Okay, so for those of us who don't understand med
school.
I for me, I understand.
I think I thought med school isfour years, Right.
Dr. Humphrey (11:55):
It is yeah.
Carlene (11:56):
Okay, so four years.
So explain to me the four yearsbefore you actually have to go
and do clinical and so on.
Dr. Humphrey (12:04):
The first two years is like mainly theory
Right, you know.
So you're in a classroom, youdo biochemistry, you do anatomy
and all these subjects are, youknow every stage you've got to
go through them, yeah, and sotowards the latter part of that
two years you start gettingready for preclinicals.
(12:24):
You know you start doing likesome of the students in
Greenator they will be going tothe hospital under a clock ship.
You know they're working withthe doctors in the hospital.
But it's starting like themedical students starting to
learn how to take history fromthe patient, how to get
information from the patient inthe hospital or in the clinic,
(12:48):
for example.
So like, when I go down there Ieven have some medical student
rotate with me both in thehospital and in the office in
the clinic down there.
But then that would take abouttwo years.
And then the other two years isreally detailed hospital
clinical rotation.
That would carry you throughall the different specialties.
So you do surgery, you domedicine, you know in the
(13:10):
different areas in in totalmedicine itself.
You know pulmonary andnephrology, neurology, etc.
Different rotations indifferent ways.
Carlene (13:20):
Okay.
Dr. Humphrey (13:21):
And then when you graduate, finally you just get
your MD or your degree, or DOyou know, depends on what
program you go through and thenafter that you go through
fellowship like oh no, no,residency Right, and that's
where you really channelyourself into whatever area that
you might be interested in.
Carlene (13:39):
I remember us having this conversation and you said
to me it's the amount of studyand you did to specialize in the
heart, like to become acardiologist, is 15 years.
That's a lot of time to study.
Dr. Humphrey (13:52):
Yeah, so that's it .
For example, after you get yourdegree right, finish all
medical school, so that's that.
First four years there you gothrough internal medicine, and
so that's where the residencycome in.
So that would be actually, Ithink that's like three or four
years, and then you would gointo fellowship and that
(14:12):
fellowship is where you startcardiology or whatever, whatever
special area that you want togo into.
So that's where all these yearscome in.
Carlene (14:21):
And then just the funding for it, because you said
you had some challenges alongthe way.
It's like because you were partof the first program and not
necessarily getting the fundingLike I mean med school is like a
lot of money and even at thattime when you were studying,
just getting the funds togetherright, Because you cannot work
(14:41):
and go to med school, Were you?
Dr. Humphrey (14:43):
able to work.
Carlene (14:43):
There's no way right.
Dr. Humphrey (14:45):
No, I couldn't do that.
I mean it's a nice thing, it'sa big struggle, so part of it.
But this scholarship was partof the scholarship in the sense
that I had to, and that's whyafter graduation I went down to
Grenada and I was down there fortwo years.
You know, after graduation, oh,ok, yeah, to pay back the
government that scholarship thatI was given.
You know, that was granted.
(15:06):
I should say we are four people.
I mean there's no way.
Carlene (15:10):
It's a little bit of passion and a little bit of
perseverance and cleardetermination, Uncle Diego and
that's the very reason why Icouldn't flunk auto medical
school.
Dr. Humphrey (15:20):
You know when I want to, what it took.
I was going to make it, youknow.
If you didn't, you know whatelse you know.
Carlene (15:28):
But you didn't want to just become like a family doctor
.
You wanted to study cardiology.
When was the time when you werelike this is my specialty.
I want to do this.
Dr. Humphrey (15:40):
That's a very good question actually.
And again, he came back to mewith an instant, while I was in
England doing one of the I thinkit was the ICU rotation you may
have heard while in thehospital, the cold blue they
would call it cold blue.
Yeah, you know.
So there was this arrest thatwe, the patient, arrested in
(16:02):
intensive care unit with, youknow, the heart stopped and you
know flat line and breathingthing, you know.
And then they have this coldblue team, so a number of
doctors, the pulmonology or theEKG technician, everybody runs
to that patient and do they?
(16:22):
They look part.
And then the cardiologist camein and he said you know, do this
, do this?
And he calls some medicine andstuff.
And then the next thing, afterthey put that medicine in, the
patient is shocked and the heartrate came back and that person,
you know, started to breatheand stuff and said God, that's
(16:42):
what I want to do.
You know, that's where the ideathat's where the idea from
cardiology came Once I got intoresidency, which is the general
medicine itself.
After the three years oftraining, I applied to get into
a cardiology fellowship.
And where did you get into thatwas in Philadelphia, and
(17:04):
Episcopal Hospital, which had ajoint program with the Medical
College of Pennsylvania, andthat's where I did that
residency and fellowship.
Even when I left Grenada inwhat, 86, what was happening, to
tell the honest truth, eventhough that I was working on the
ward, I was a junior officer iswhat they, what they told us,
(17:28):
because we worked under theBritish system, you know, like
house officer, and you know thebigger doctors or the trained
doctors would be.
I don't remember exactly whatthe name was.
Carlene (17:38):
Yeah, well, I mean, you were going back, we're going
back in history, right?
So yeah, the Buddha law was.
Dr. Humphrey (17:44):
The was over us, and then the graduates of SGU
and I was the only one there atthat time coming back with our
MD.
There was no uproar for me, youknow, I just had to be there.
And even University of the WestIndies is really what trained
(18:04):
our doctors in Grenada, like theCaribbean doctors, yeah.
And then they never recognizeas our school.
As yet the St George'sUniversity was not recognized by
them, so our trained doctorscouldn't really advance into the
that program, if you may.
So all I was able to do is justbe a house office or work a
(18:28):
doctor on the ward.
Thank you for listening toNutmeg Nation with Carline
Humphrey.
Welcome to Nutmeg Nation with Carlene Humphrey.
Carlene (00:05):
Hi, I'm Carlene and this is Nutmeg Nation.
I am your host and I have withme on Zoom Dr Diego Humphrey,
and he's in Oklahoma.
Hi, diego, hi.
Dr. Humphrey (00:19):
Dr, Diego, hi Carlene, how are you Carlene,
uncle D, that's just fine, I'llcall you Uncle D.
Carlene (00:24):
Okay, yeah, there you go.
Yeah, we've made itprofessional.
Dr. Humphrey (00:30):
We're ready and that will take care of that
Going forward, Uncle Dee.
Carlene (00:35):
So tell me, for those that don't know a lot about St
George's University, what is itabout the school that brings so
many students to the country?
Dr. Humphrey (00:47):
Well, basically the school started with Charles
Mordechar.
He was attempting to go tomedical school himself and then
he became professionally as alawyer.
But then he had his idea to getaway with his father to start
off a medical school it'sunknown to be in the Caribbean
(01:08):
eventually, in Grenadaeventually but to provide access
to many of the good studentsactually who were trying to get
into medicine and was not ableto do it Unfortunately.
He met with Eric Gary, ourprime minister at the time, who
also had a fantastic idea to tryto promote education in Grenada
(01:32):
, and there came up with thatoff-island, offshore for US
medical school, and so the firstchartered class was, I think,
1977.
It took off from there.
Right now, the majority ofstudents that started the school
were Americans and theagreement or arrangement that
(01:55):
they had is to start providingscholarships to Grenadians.
Unfortunately, I was among thefirst Grenadians that went into
the medical school.
It was five of us and, lo andbehold, some way along the way
the other four dropped off and Istruggled through the whole
(02:18):
process and eventually got my MD.
I didn't know that.
Yeah, it was, and I think youremember it was what Charmaine
Steele, jennifer Edwards, rayCharles, clinton, lewis and
myself you remember everyone inyour class.
Yeah, because it was a specialgroup and everything was new to
(02:39):
us.
As a matter of fact, we did nothave the pre-med or master's
degree to go into the schoolitself.
So they joined up with TruthMcConnell College in Georgia,
cleveland, georgia, and theyallowed a pre-med program
designed for us as Grenadians,and then that's how we were able
(03:03):
to make the first semester intothe school accepted, into the
school itself.
Carlene (03:10):
When you think about med school, a lot of programs
like you either study in theUnited States or Canada, like if
you were in India and you comehere you can't just practice
medicine.
It doesn't interpret the sameway.
I guess it's because of thesystem, right?
Like you were able to study theAmerican system in Grenada,
(03:33):
which makes it easier to studyanywhere in the US, right?
Dr. Humphrey (03:37):
It's a somewhat difficult thing for us.
Well, for me, as a Grenadianand not a US citizen, I could
not, and that's how I end up inEngland.
I could not.
After finishing the first twoyears of training in Grenada, I
couldn't come up to the US tostudy the clinicals.
(03:58):
So we end up in England anddoing the clinical rotations out
there and then come back to theUS after graduation.
Essentially, oh, okay, it was adifficult time because growing
years for the school and for thestudents in there it's like the
test of the actual programitself.
(04:20):
That's a separate topic of itsown, oh okay.
Because, yeah, it was adifficult thing in every step
that we had to go through.
Initially, us hospitals werevery rejectful of our students.
They didn't want to accept ourstudents to begin with, and a
(04:42):
lot of work and arrangement thatDr Modico had with professors,
even some retirees, and througharrangement with them where
they're practiced, they wereable to get our students to
enter the program like residencyand training, like that.
(05:03):
Most of the students they justwork the dickens out, work very
hard and once they get into anyprogram they just continue to
work like crazy, I would say,and that just showed them.
Even myself personally, that'swhat happened Once I get into
the program.
It took me quite a while to getinto the US residency training,
but once I got in, you justwork yourself to make sure that
(05:26):
you're well known for what youare essentially.
Carlene (05:29):
Yeah, you're trying to make your mark in the program.
Dr. Humphrey (05:32):
Yeah, yeah, I mean , you get a chance and you make
the best of it.
Matter of fact, after Ifinished my residency in
internal medicine, I was one ofthe first that chose for the
Cardiology Fellowship because ofthe features that I showed as a
resident in internal medicine.
Carlene (05:48):
Talking about your education, it obviously stems
from where growing up in Grenadaand going to school and then
realizing that this is somethingthat you wanna do.
So I read that your aunt wasyour kind of like a little bit
of an inspiration or someonethat helped you decide that this
(06:11):
is something you wanted to do.
Dr. Humphrey (06:13):
Well, yes, that's correct, aunt Tijou, teacher
German is one.
Carlene (06:17):
Yeah, teacher German.
Yes, Bless her heart.
Dr. Humphrey (06:19):
Yeah, bless her heart, yeah, and may she
continue to rest in peace.
You know, when she did districtnursing in Bolio, I remember
vividly when she did the clinic,there were certain days that
they do different types ofclinic, and happened to wander
into the clinic and I just got asense of what they were doing
(06:42):
and taking care of wounds and socome in there, different things
like that.
So that's where the caring partwent into it for me.
The rest of it, though, if Ihad to speak on one thing, it's
just the gift that I got, reallyyeah.
Yeah, you know, because thingsopened out for me in certain
(07:04):
ways.
I give you a little story.
Actually, you may not know that, and a lot of people might not
know that I never really likedschool.
You know it's not enough inBruchkov.
Carlene (07:14):
Really.
Yeah, I looked at that.
I looked at something new.
Dr. Humphrey (07:18):
Yeah, it's a funny story.
You know, we grew up in NezHouse.
My grandmother's house is rightnext to Johnson Estate and
right there, you know, there wasa little river, a little creek
that runs across the road, andright in the estate there were
lots of things to do.
And so when the mommy sent meto school that was Bruchkov RSC
(07:38):
school at that time I neverreally went to school, I just
stayed on the estate and playand things like that.
And you know I would go homeafter school or lunchtime
because we walked up fromBruchkov to Nez House and shot
here and then mommy would comeup and say what did you learn in
school today?
Abc.
You know what I mean, abc, youknow.
(08:00):
So for after a while it wasjust ABC alone and it didn't
know much.
So they get a sense, you get asense that he was not going to
school.
And, a matter of fact, theworkers in the estate told mommy
he was not going to school.
At 10 o'clock they would seehim playing by the river or
things like that.
So finally she brought it.
(08:20):
It's a funny story, but shebrought me to this bar friend
that she had was a policeofficer.
He said you need to go toschool, Otherwise he'll put me
in that little jail in there.
And he showed me that littletwo-eyed, two-cell.
Oh my god, I cannot go in therehere.
From that time I started goingto school and it took off from
(08:43):
there.
I mean, I was just knowingeverything and you know, and
everything just fall into place.
Carlene (08:50):
Wow, I mean, what a way to really give you a picture of
your life.
Dr. Humphrey (08:55):
Like I mean, how old were you when he told you
that Like you know, you know youbring it thing back to mine now
I was by the time mom moved medown from Berserk over to Grand
Dance.
I was like 13 years old, yeah,and at that time, to tell you
the honest truth, I haddifficulties even spelling my
name.
My middle name was, like,sebastian, I didn't even able to
(09:16):
spell my name.
Carlene (09:18):
I didn't even realize that that's your middle name
until.
I read it out, I was just likeoh, sebastian, I'm like, now I
know why Sebastian has his name.
That makes sense.
You know, sebastian's my cousin, uncle Diego's son.
But yeah, it's wow, what astory.
I find it so interesting to hearthe things that we did when we
were children.
Right, I was telling someoneabout me and Grenada and I
(09:42):
didn't skip school, but I didsomething.
I just remember writing aboutthis today, uncle D I actually
there were snacks in school.
I remember this uh vaguely, butI think you pay like a quarter
for the snack and somehow,because it was so good, I use my
bus fare to buy another snack.
And then, when it came time forme to go home, I don't know if
(10:05):
I had to walk or if I had to askI think maybe the principal or
someone had to give me money toget on the bus.
And I think I've gotten so muchtrouble when I got home after
that because they're like whydid you use?
Like I use my extra money,right, because they give you
money for your, your recesssnack and for your bus fare and
I just use both.
I'm like, oh my gosh, you knowlike the things that I did when
(10:28):
I was younger.
So it's just interesting thatyou weren't even going to class.
You're kind of playing like TomSawyer, but that was.
Dr. Humphrey (10:35):
You know that was the young age, yeah 13.
That's so yeah, after that whenmom, when mom brought me down
to Grand Dance, it was a totaldifferent story.
Then I was so serious.
I tell you, the teacher, didn't, you know, pay attention to
what they were doing?
I would go home and complain tomommy.
You know that teacher is notdoing right.
(10:56):
You know you should send me toa different school, yeah.
Oh my gosh, that's sointeresting Wow.
Carlene (11:02):
Talking about memories, like I, because you grew like
you were growing up in the 80s.
Do you remember the invasion inGrenada?
Dr. Humphrey (11:11):
The invasion time I was in England.
Carlene (11:14):
Oh, you were.
Dr. Humphrey (11:15):
Yeah, that was 83.
Yeah, that's where I was doingmy clinical rotation then.
Now I do remember the one I wasin shape of school in the 70s.
We had a lot of demonstrationat that time we participated in.
I participated in some of them,you know, but the invasion time
now was in England at that time.
Carlene (11:35):
So the part I think I want to understand is med school
, because you said you only didtwo years and that was it.
Did you do four?
Dr. Humphrey (11:43):
years.
That's treatment, that'streatment.
Carlene (11:45):
Okay, so for those of us who don't understand med
school.
I for me, I understand.
I think I thought med school isfour years, Right.
Dr. Humphrey (11:55):
It is yeah.
Carlene (11:56):
Okay, so four years.
So explain to me the four yearsbefore you actually have to go
and do clinical and so on.
Dr. Humphrey (12:04):
The first two years is like mainly theory
Right, you know.
So you're in a classroom, youdo biochemistry, you do anatomy
and all these subjects are, youknow every stage you've got to
go through them, yeah, and sotowards the latter part of that
two years you start gettingready for preclinicals.
(12:24):
You know you start doing likesome of the students in
Greenator they will be going tothe hospital under a clock ship.
You know they're working withthe doctors in the hospital.
But it's starting like themedical students starting to
learn how to take history fromthe patient, how to get
information from the patient inthe hospital or in the clinic,
(12:48):
for example.
So like, when I go down there Ieven have some medical student
rotate with me both in thehospital and in the office in
the clinic down there.
But then that would take abouttwo years.
And then the other two years isreally detailed hospital
clinical rotation.
That would carry you throughall the different specialties.
So you do surgery, you domedicine, you know in the
(13:10):
different areas in in totalmedicine itself.
You know pulmonary andnephrology, neurology, etc.
Different rotations indifferent ways.
Carlene (13:20):
Okay.
Dr. Humphrey (13:21):
And then when you graduate, finally you just get
your MD or your degree, or DOyou know, depends on what
program you go through and thenafter that you go through
fellowship like oh no, no,residency Right, and that's
where you really channelyourself into whatever area that
you might be interested in.
Carlene (13:39):
I remember us having this conversation and you said
to me it's the amount of studyand you did to specialize in the
heart, like to become acardiologist, is 15 years.
That's a lot of time to study.
Dr. Humphrey (13:52):
Yeah, so that's it .
For example, after you get yourdegree right, finish all
medical school, so that's that.
First four years there you gothrough internal medicine, and
so that's where the residencycome in.
So that would be actually, Ithink that's like three or four
years, and then you would gointo fellowship and that
(14:12):
fellowship is where you startcardiology or whatever, whatever
special area that you want togo into.
So that's where all these yearscome in.
Carlene (14:21):
And then just the funding for it, because you said
you had some challenges alongthe way.
It's like because you were partof the first program and not
necessarily getting the fundingLike I mean med school is like a
lot of money and even at thattime when you were studying,
just getting the funds togetherright, Because you cannot work
(14:41):
and go to med school, Were you?
Dr. Humphrey (14:43):
able to work.
Carlene (14:43):
There's no way right.
Dr. Humphrey (14:45):
No, I couldn't do that.
I mean it's a nice thing, it'sa big struggle, so part of it.
But this scholarship was partof the scholarship in the sense
that I had to, and that's whyafter graduation I went down to
Grenada and I was down there fortwo years.
You know, after graduation, oh,ok, yeah, to pay back the
government that scholarship thatI was given.
You know, that was granted.
(15:06):
I should say we are four people.
I mean there's no way.
Carlene (15:10):
It's a little bit of passion and a little bit of
perseverance and cleardetermination, Uncle Diego and
that's the very reason why Icouldn't flunk auto medical
school.
Dr. Humphrey (15:20):
You know when I want to, what it took.
I was going to make it, youknow.
If you didn't, you know whatelse you know.
Carlene (15:28):
But you didn't want to just become like a family doctor
.
You wanted to study cardiology.
When was the time when you werelike this is my specialty.
I want to do this.
Dr. Humphrey (15:40):
That's a very good question actually.
And again, he came back to mewith an instant, while I was in
England doing one of the I thinkit was the ICU rotation you may
have heard while in thehospital, the cold blue they
would call it cold blue.
Yeah, you know.
So there was this arrest thatwe, the patient, arrested in
(16:02):
intensive care unit with, youknow, the heart stopped and you
know flat line and breathingthing, you know.
And then they have this coldblue team, so a number of
doctors, the pulmonology or theEKG technician, everybody runs
to that patient and do they?
(16:22):
They look part.
And then the cardiologist camein and he said you know, do this
, do this?
And he calls some medicine andstuff.
And then the next thing, afterthey put that medicine in, the
patient is shocked and the heartrate came back and that person,
you know, started to breatheand stuff and said God, that's
(16:42):
what I want to do.
You know, that's where the ideathat's where the idea from
cardiology came Once I got intoresidency, which is the general
medicine itself.
After the three years oftraining, I applied to get into
a cardiology fellowship.
And where did you get into thatwas in Philadelphia, and
(17:04):
Episcopal Hospital, which had ajoint program with the Medical
College of Pennsylvania, andthat's where I did that
residency and fellowship.
Even when I left Grenada inwhat, 86, what was happening, to
tell the honest truth, eventhough that I was working on the
ward, I was a junior officer iswhat they, what they told us,
(17:28):
because we worked under theBritish system, you know, like
house officer, and you know thebigger doctors or the trained
doctors would be.
I don't remember exactly whatthe name was.
Carlene (17:38):
Yeah, well, I mean, you were going back, we're going
back in history, right?
So yeah, the Buddha law was.
Dr. Humphrey (17:44):
The was over us, and then the graduates of SGU
and I was the only one there atthat time coming back with our
MD.
There was no uproar for me, youknow, I just had to be there.
And even University of the WestIndies is really what trained
(18:04):
our doctors in Grenada, like theCaribbean doctors, yeah.
And then they never recognizeas our school.
As yet the St George'sUniversity was not recognized by
them, so our trained doctorscouldn't really advance into the
that program, if you may.
So all I was able to do is justbe a house office or work a
(18:28):
doctor on the ward.
Thank you for listening toNutmeg Nation with Carline
Humphrey.
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