Western medical professionals receive prestigious international dental fellowship

Western Bureau:

Prominent western Jamaica-based medical professionals Dr Delroy Fray, clinical coordinator for the Western Regional Health Authority (WRHA), and Dr Christopher Ogunsalu, professor of dentistry and anatomy, were among several persons recently presented with the prestigious fellowship of the International College of Dentists (ICD).

The presentations, made during the August 1 opening of the main campus of The Global University of Medical Sciences (GUMS) in May Pen, Clarendon, are among the most respected acknowledgements in dentistry.

Both Fray and Ogunsalu are central figures at GUMS, which is expected to revolutionise dentistry through its focus on advanced medical and dental education.

During the fellowship ceremony, which was presided over by Dr Julio Rodrigues, the global president of the ICD, Dr Dagogo Pepple and May Pen Mayor Joel Williams were also among the awardees.

In the citation to Ogunsalu, he was lauded not only for his work in developing and maintaining the ICD in the English-speaking Caribbean, but also for his efforts over the past 20 years in developing the organisation in the African region.

Fray, one of the founding lecturers and examiners in the Faculty of Dentistry at the Montego Bay-based International Postgraduate Medical College (IPMC), was recognised for his significant contribution to the training of several postgraduate dentists in the Caribbean and the United States through the IPMC, alongside Pepple.

Both Fray and Pepple played a critical role in training the first set of dentists in the English-speaking Caribbean to acquire an MSc and fellowship in one of dentistry’s rare specialties, oral surgery and medicine.

Williams was recognised for his role in ensuring that the undergraduate dental programme found a home in May Pen with the unveiling of GUMS.

Dr Correta Fergus of Montserrat was also presented with the Presidential Award for her continued contribution to the dental profession. In 2010, in Ghana, she was inducted into the fellowship of the ICD, becoming the first female dentist in the English-speaking Caribbean to become a fellow of the organisation.

The event, which hosted renowned dental personalities such as Professor Everald Barton and Professor Jon Suzuki, was attended by dentists from Jamaica, Trinidad, Barbados, The Bahamas, the Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos, St Lucia and the United States.

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