Vincy Neurosurgeon recognised at USC

07.MAR.08

A young Vincentian has been recognised by the University of Southern Caribbean (USC) as part of that school’s 80th Anniversary celebrations.{{more}}

The University, formerly the Caribbean Union College, has named 28-year-old Dr. Kamal Woods as its Alumnus Extraordinaire for December 2007.

Dr Woods, the son of Joel and Aliena Woods of Diamond is a third-year neurosurgery resident at the Loma Linda University Medical Center (LLUMC) in California, USA. After graduating from the Loma Linda University Medical School in 2005, Dr Woods was offered the only neurosurgery training position available at the time at that medical school. For him, it was a dream come true.

An outstanding student all his life, Kamal, the third of the Woods’ four children, received his primary education at the Kingstown Preparatory School, after which he attended the St. Vincent Grammar School. While at the Grammar School, Kamal was a prefect and excelled not only in academics, but in sports and music. He received the “Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in the Senior School”, as well as the “Award for Excellence in the Fourth Form” from the Rotary Club of St. Vincent. On graduating from Grammar School in 1996, he obtained distinctions in all eight subjects he

wrote, earning him the awards for “Best Overall CXC Performance”, “Best CXC Performance in Mathematics” and “Best CXC Performance in the Sciences” from that school.

On leaving secondary school, Dr Woods entered the Caribbean Union College where he majored in Biology with a minor in Chemistry. He graduated in 2001 summa cum laude, and was admitted directly into Loma Linda University School of Medicine. At medical school, he obtained the Walter E. Macpherson Society “Student Summer Research Scholarship” in 2002 and achieved 2nd place for Medical Student Basic Science research at the 2003 Loma Linda University School of Medicine Annual Postgraduate Convention.

According to the USC, Dr Woods is “working toward becoming an outstanding surgeon, to help define the future of Neurosurgery. More importantly, he strives to be a caring physician, and a sincere fellow traveler.”

(Extracted from “December Alumnus Extraordinaire” published by the University of the Southern Caribbean)