A woman named Dr Millicent Comrie
JAMAICANS everywhere are talented. When they put their heads down to work, few nationalities can match up to them.
One such is Dr Millicent Comrie, an obstetrician and gynaecologist who has lived and worked in New York for several decades and who was, on America’s Independence Day, July 4, recognised by the Carnegie Corporation of New York for her outstanding contribution to American life, as emphasised elsewhere in this publication.
It was another item on the glittering list of accolades bestowed on a fabulous woman who, even before then, had earned a reputation as a member of the ‘top 100’ club in obstetrics and gynaecology in New York — a remarkable feat in such a competitive arena.
I have never had reason to summon Dr Comrie’s fine hands into motion in an exercise on myself, but the reactions of the scores of women whom I have spoken to in Jamaica and overseas is mind-boggling. Women have told me that they left Jamaica to seek professional audience with her in Brooklyn, and more have travelled from all over the USA and other countries just to get what they consider to be the best professional deal available.
She, the sister of former Cabinet Minister Dr Fenton Ferguson, has been fittingly recognised by the Jamaica Government with the Order of Distinction, and I’m hoping that one day her services will be sought to set up an advanced institute of gynaecology in Jamaica.
Six years ago her daughter’s sudden death rocked her, and her entire family. Luckily, although the pain and the memories linger, she has managed to maintain her composure and continues to do what she can for those who turn up to see her in Brooklyn.
With a reputation like hers, any man would want to ask the question: Why didn’t she choose urology as an area of specialisation? But then, women run things.