Dr. Cedric Lazarus recently caught up with, and interviewed, Professor Carlos Escoffery, a KC icon and renowned pathologist who retired from UWI in 2020

CL: Carlos, thank you for taking the time to speak with me.

CE: No problems…my pleasure

CL: When and how did you end up at KC?

CE: I went to KC in 1966. It wasn't a difficult choice as I lived a couple of blocks from both KC and St George's, so it was one or the other, and at the time, KC had the reputation of being a great school and the best socio-cultural option for "poor people pickney".

CL: Where did you go to primary school and where did you live in those years?

CE: I went to St Aloysius Boys' School on Duke St. It was a Catholic school run by the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany, and my headmistress at the time was a nun. During my time there, the name of the school was St Aloysius Boys' School, and on the same compound, separated by a high chain-link fence, was the girls' school - St Joseph's Girls' School. Several years after I left, both schools were amalgamated and became co-ed as St Aloysius Primary School.

At that time, and all through my KC years, I lived on Wildman Street in what was then called Central Kingston, though nowadays I hear it referred to as Rose Gardens.

CL: What are some of your memories of primary school?

CE: Wonderful memories. The headmistress and all my teachers (all were women) were very supportive of me and, recognizing my love of the schoolwork, paid me a lot of attention and encouraged me to excel.

My first teacher, Mrs Benjamin, ensured that I got into the school despite me turning up after enrolment had closed. She recognized that I was way ahead of my class level (Junior 1) and got me skipped up to Junior 2 (second year) after a couple of weeks.

I was an avid reader and was thrilled when the headmistress allowed me to sit in her office and read the books that she had in her book cabinet during lunch time and sometimes after school…a privilege that I gather was not given to many.

CL: Who were some of your classmates and friends in first and second form at KC?

CE: I am going to duck out of this one as there are so many to mention that it would take up too much space and I might incur the wrath of those that I left out (LOL).

Suffice it to say that in first and second form, I had a warm time trying to top the very bright guys in the class. We had some hot scholars at that time - John Williams and Paul Chen are a couple who immediately come to mind.

CL: By the time you got to 5 ^th form, which were your favourite subjects?

CE: English Language first, second and third. LOL. I was always in love with the English Language, so much so that I sat and passed it at O Levels twice - in both 4 ^th and 5 ^th form. My second favourite was Biology, followed by French.

CL: Favourite teachers?

CE: There were so many that I don't want to leave anyone out, and certain teachers had a positive impact on me, even though they did not teach me directly or formally.

The latter group must start with Mr Forrest, who was my father figure, mentor, and academic guide. There was also Mr Ivan "Wally" Johnson and Miss Helen Douglas, who were like parents to so many of us in my time.

Those who taught me would include Miss Joy Reid, who made me fall in love with the English Language - a love that I have never lost. There were also Mrs Sylvia Barber and Mr Vin McKie, who taught me Biology and Zoology, and Mr Keith Bryan of Bible Knowledge renown.

It would be remiss of me not to mention the legendary Youngster "Mr G" Goldsmith, who was more than a Physical Education guru, but a moral compass and character builder as well.

CL: Were you involved in any extracurricular activity?

CE: Not much, really. I fooled around the Photography Club for a while and was on one of the early School Challenge Quiz Teams (might have been the first or second). I suppose that my crowning glory was being a cast member in the winning play in the French Drama Festival when I was in fifth form.

CL: When I got to 6 ^th form, a few years after you, our biology and zoology teachers often spoke about your academic prowess. If you may, tell us about your 6 ^th form year because I recall that you only spent 1 year in 6 ^th form in which you did your A-level exams. Why was that?

CE: When I reached Lower Sixth, Mr Forrest informed me that I was going to attempt three A' levels and GP in one year as he wanted a Jamaica Scholarship before he left the school (LOL). That is how I came to do Mathematics, Chemistry, Zoology and GP in one year. It was very hard and stressful, and I fell short of the Jamaica Scholarship but got second second-best - the Jamaica Independence Scholarship.

I was to have had surgery done in the summer between Lower and Upper Sixth, but this was postponed by the hospital, resulting in me missing much of the Upper Sixth year. I think that I only did a part of the second term and the third - hence the reason why I only did Physics at A-level in Upper Sixth, having had to drop it in Lower Sixth to make time for those subjects that I did.

CL: You were the Ja Independence Scholar in 1972. What was the feeling when you heard that you had won that prestigious scholarship?

CE: I was overwhelmed with joy and disbelief. I had given it my best shot, but given the volume of work, especially with Zoology, and the relatively short preparation time, I had doubted that I could beat students who had two years to study.

CL: What is your best memory of your KC years?

CE: There are so many pleasant memories that it is hard to choose, but if I must single out one, it would be that night in 1971 when we won the French Drama Festival with a cast of fifth formers, barring one sixth former - I think that his name was Slack. We were underdogs, seeing that as fifth formers we had not yet sat our French O'levels, but we gave what the critics lauded as a stellar performance and made Mr Forrest so happy that he cried copiously on the announcement of our victory, as he had waited years to cop the trophy.

I remember that in addition to myself, other fifth formers in the cast were John Williams and Winston Tucker.

CL: When did you decide that you wanted to be a medical doctor?

CE: From I was a little boy, I wanted to do medicine, but the decision gelled by the time I reached sixth form, which was about when one had to start thinking seriously about a career after high school. In those days, there was not the plethora of professions and pursuits that exist today; the main choices usually boiled down to medicine, law, engineering and accounts (LOL). I didn't like mathematics so there went engineering and accounts, and from what I gathered at the time, law entailed too much esoteric reading. So, since I had an affinity for zoology, medicine was the only choice.

CL: Why did you specialize in pathology?

CE: Having chosen medicine as my profession, I realized by the time that I reached my final year that I didn't particularly like clinical patient care, a realization that became stronger during my year of internship.

I wanted to do something more scientific than what I perceived to be the vagaries of clinical practice at the time, but I also still wanted to be in patient care and not to relegate myself to pure scientific research.

Anatomical Pathology (called Diagnostic Pathology by some nowadays) provided me with the medium to help diagnose diseases and guide patient care without having to be in the clinical setting.

CL: Most people think that pathologists only do post-mortem examinations but there is much more to it than that. As a pathologist, when you were not doing autopsies, what were you doing?

CE: The old-time view of pathologists being doctors who spend their lives in autopsy rooms dissecting the dead has long passed. Autopsies are now being done more often by forensic pathologists than anatomical (diagnostic) pathologists. The latter focuses more on diagnosing diseases by examining tissues and cells using microscopy and molecular analysis.

Diagnostic pathology is painstaking and time-consuming, and in many jurisdictions, there is a relative shortage of pathologists, as many doctors shy away from it as a specialty.

CL: Did you teach pathology to medical students?

CE: I was simultaneously employed as an academic pathologist (Lecturer then Professor) at the UWI, Mona, and a consultant pathologist to the University Hospital of the West Indies. The UWI post entailed teaching and research, teaching both undergraduate and postgraduate students in medicine (mainly medical students and residents in training programmes). Although the UHWI post was predominantly a service-related one dedicated primarily to patient care, it also had a teaching element.

CL: When did you become a professor?

CE: In 2005. I started working at UWI in 1985 as a lecturer, then was promoted to senior lecturer, and then to professor.

CL: In the 1990s, I heard that you were part of a group of KC doctors at UWI and elsewhere who started a fund to support needy KC medical students. How did that come about?

CE: In 1997, a friend of mine who was then in charge of the Office of Student Financing, UWI, contacted me about a KCOB medical student who was in financial difficulties and was badly in need of help. I investigated and realized that he was not the only such student, and that my resources alone would not have been sufficient to assist in a meaningful or sustainable way.

I realized that many KCOBs were already being heavily taxed by constant requests to help both current students at the school as well as needy Old Boys, so I decided that it might be best to try to have "like support like", i.e. convince Old Boy medical practitioners to help those in Medical School. I figured that such a vested group might be easier to win over as contributors, especially if they could see that their funds were being used in a meaningful and transparent fashion.

So, I became the Founder & Co-Trustee of "The Kingston College Old Boys Fund for Needy KCOBs in the Faculty of Medical Sciences", which was managed by the Office of Student Financing, UWI. The fund was well supported and lasted from 1997 to 2010 when it ran out of steam for various reasons, the main one being that the number of needy students and the amount that they needed simply overwhelmed the available resources that the Fund could muster.

CL: Your wife Pat, also worked at UWI as a pathologist. Tell me, did you discuss difficult cases when you got home?

CE: My wife trained in Pathology at UWI, but on graduation, went to work at the then Government Laboratory, which later became the National Public Health Laboratory. I wouldn't say that we never discussed any pathology matters or cases at home, but not often, and only those that were deemed to be of great importance. Our working hours were so long and arduous that we tried hard to keep home as a place of respite.

CL: Now that you are retired, how are you spending your time?

CE: Blissfully and happily (LOL). It wasn't until after I retired that I realized that I had spent most of my adult life working, and looking back, I think that I worked too long and too hard. But c'est la vie!

I am now catching up on so much that I had ignored - simple things like watching movies (Netflix has become my best friend). I am catching up on listening to music, my lifelong passion, and am now just getting around to removing the shrink wrap from some of my LPs and CDs bought years and years ago! I am also catching up with, and trying to hook up with, family and friends whom I have ignored for too long.

Perhaps the greatest gift that being retired has given me is TIME - something that I should never have taken for granted. Time to do things, or sometimes, to do nothing!

CL: If you could start over, what would you have done differently?

CE: Easy question to answer! I would have spent much less time working and found more time to treat and look after myself much better, especially in the past couple of decades.

CL: What advice would you give current KC students aspiring to become medical doctors?

CE: Go for it! Medicine is long and hard, and sometimes the financial rewards are not what one would hope for, but it is a wonderful calling. I say calling instead of a job or profession, because when practiced properly, it entails elements of giving, caring, patience and love that can make it more than just working for money. The satisfaction of helping to make one's fellow man whole in mind and body is a gift and a blessing.