A year ago, EASY magazine featured Joseph Herbert, along with several other young doctors who were commencing their internship at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. A year later, EASY sits down again with Joseph after he successfully completed his internship.
Long hours, functioning on very little sleep, and juggling a demanding work schedule were constants during the year-long internship for 24-year-old Joseph Herbert at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital as part of his medical training.
It hasn’t been the glamourous life that many of us have often seen depicted on medical shows such as Grey’s Anatomy or Scrubs, but the year has taught Joseph a great deal about the profession and himself.
“It certainly has made me value and use my spare time more and also value time that I have with my loved ones,” he said. “I think I’ve learnt a lot about working with people. It has certainly reaffirmed my love for medicine.
“The main reason I guess that I’ve been able to do well is simply because I love it . . . not because I’m more talented than anyone else. It’s streneous and it takes a lot of motivation but it makes it easier if you love it.”
Joseph, who had always shown an inclination towards family medicine, had set his sights on leaving Barbados after his internship. While there were professional reasons behind his decision, a personal one was because his fiancée was in Ontario, Canada.
Fast forward a year later, and Joseph has decided to stay in Barbados.
“I got an opportunity to do a programme that I was really interested in. Basically, it’s post-graduate training in family medicine,” he said.
“If not to continue as my speciality, I knew that I wanted to do something after my internship that gave me more experience in all the different areas of medicine. I was lucky to have the opportunity to do it.”
Unlike many of his fellow interns, who because of limited job placements have left the island for medical opportunities elsewhere, Joseph felt that it was important for him to stay.
“There were a lot of good people in my programme . . . people that I know will make very good doctors but I am surprised and disappointed that they have not had opportunities here,” he said.
“Almost straight off the bat they were looking to train overseas and for now they’ll be lost to Barbados. Obviously there are better paying jobs overseas and better hours, so it’s likely they may not return and that’s a shame, especially in the cases of some who may have wanted to work here because I think a lot of people wanted to give back.”
That idea of giving back to the Barbadian community is something that is very important to Joseph.
“I have a very strong sense of obligation to work here,” he said. “The Government paid for my degree, but apart from that I would really like to give back and make some sort of difference.
“There’s a simple saying: ‘To whom much is given much is required’ and that holds firm with me.”
With Joseph’s career falling into place, it seems his personal life is following suit as well.
“My fiancée is coming to Barbados to live with me. The programme I’m doing is four years and I’m glad to have this opportunity because, even if in the future I have to leave here, I have these four years to give back.”
