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Heartline Magazine October - December 2004
Fulfilling a passion - A life of caring - Barbadian Physician head the IAHF
If you ask Professor Trevor Hassell just what it is that
allows him to take on seemingly countless duties and responsibilities with such
ease and aptitude, his response would probably be: “The answer to that is very
simple: I love what I do. I am totally committed to and love the practice of
medicine, and all that goes with it. It is my passion. Therefore, nothing is too
difficult for me to do.”
Recently, he took another responsibility upon his shoulders
when he became the first Caribbean physician to be appointed president of the
InterAmerican Heart Foundation (IAHF), an organization that he had been involved
with and been a member of since its inception some 10 years ago. His
inauguration took place at the IAHF’s Annual General Assembly in New Orleans,
Louisiana, United States of America, on November 8. He will serve for two years.
The InterAmerican Heart Foundation is a grouping of Heart Foundations and other organizations of Latin America and the Caribbean, located
in 19 countries from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, and serving a population of 721
million people.
In his acceptance speech Professor Hassell noted that over
time he had seen the IAHF grow from simply being an idea and a dream to one that
now has members in most of the countries of the Americas. “It has become a
highly respected international organization”, he said “and has established major
programmes which include tobacco control, emergency cardiac care and the
Carmella study.”
The InterAmerican Heart Foundation has been very active, in
fact, in supporting the ratification of the Framework Convention on Tobacco
Control (FCTC), a treaty of the World Health Organization. “Tobacco control will
continue to be a high priority for the Foundation”, Prof. Hassell said, “and I
will work to ensure that the Caribbean also takes a strong stance on the FCTC.”
Prof. Hassell is founder president of the Heart Foundation
of Barbados Inc. (HFOB), an organization that he jointly formed in 1985. He
served as president for ten years, until 1995. He has maintained active
involvement with the HFOB as a director, and has played a key role throughout
the years in seeing the organization develop from a fledgling body into a
leading national health care institution, providing initiatives and programmes
in heart health and emergency cardiac care not only for Barbados, but also
across the Caribbean.
Professor Henry Fraser, in his citation on the occasion of
Professor Hassell’s receipt of the Award of Merit at the University of the West
Indies/Barbados Association of Medical Practitioners Independence Conference in
November 2003, nicely puts Prof. Hassell’s early beginnings in this way: “Trevor
Austin Hassell was born on April 20th, 1940 - a birthday he shares with Emperor
Napoleon the Third, nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte. But to understand the power
structure in the dynasty into which he was born I must explain that he was one
of 8 children of Eric and Doris Hassell, and his parents weren’t even Roman
Catholic! He batted at number 4, and was the third of 4 boys - so he had to
learn negotiating skills from an early age. You also need to know a little bit
more about the senior Mr. Hassell. He went to sea at the age of 12, as a deck
boy. He rose to schooner captain, and then captain of a motor vessel, the
Zipper. This sank off Guyana, and Captain Hassell survived, miraculously, as he
couldn’t swim. He always said, “Most airline pilots can’t fly, so why worry?”
But he took God’s miracle as a sign, came ashore and became a ship’s agent.”
Trevor Hassell was educated at Harrison College, Barbados,
where he became a Queen’s Scout, a sergeant in the Cadet Corps and a senior
prefect. He proceeded to UWI in 1959 to study medicine. After graduation in
1965, and internships and senior house jobs at the QEH, he won a Commonwealth
Medical Scholarship to the UK in 1968, where he spent two years, at the Royal
Victoria Hospital in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne and at University College Hospital,
London. He achieved the distinction of Member of the Royal College of Physicians
(MRCP). In 1970 he returned home and to the QEH, first as Registrar and then as
Consultant Physician. Here he exercised his passion for cardiology, developing
over the years a Cardiac Unit that would be a beacon for all of those working
with and around him. The cardiac surgical programme at the QEH is today an
outstanding medical success story in the English speaking Caribbean.
Throughout his years of service to the QEH he has held a
number of senior positions and played a leading role within the institution, as
well as in the teaching of general internal medicine and cardiology to medical
undergraduates.
In this regard he has over the past 34 years conducted
twice-weekly teaching sessions in general medicine, provided weekly teaching in
cardiology in the sub-specialty cardiac clinic, and delivered core lectures in
cardiology to medical undergraduates. He has also played a leading role within
the QEH, in all aspects of post-graduate medical training in cardiology.
His distinguished service in this area was acknowledged with
the unique elevation in the University of The West Indies to the title of
Adjunct Professor of Medicine in the School of Clinical Medicine and Research.
“This aspect of my career has been one of the most pleasing
and satisfying to me,” commented Prof. Hassell. “It has been a privilege to have
been given the opportunity to pass on knowledge and instruction to so many young
medical students – over 500, I believe - and to see them grow and progress in
their professions.”
At present he is consultant physician and cardiologist and
director of medical services at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
He is also a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology (FACC)
and a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (FRCP), London, England.
In 1996 Prof. Hassell was appointed to the Order of Barbados
in the grade of Gold Crown of Merit in the Barbados National Honours in
recognition of his outstanding contribution to the Medical Profession and in
particular to the Cardiac Unit at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
Over a very productive career Prof. Hassell has published or
presented at scientific meetings over 50 papers. He founded, edited and
published Heartline, the quarterly newsletter of the Heart Foundation of
Barbados, for an unbroken 17 years, from the inception of the HFOB, and was
instrumental in the transformation of the publication into a magazine in the
first quarter of 2003.
Prof. Hassell has also served as chairman of the Boards of
Management of the Barbados Community College and of Harrison College. He was
president of the Caribbean Cardiac Society, and director, chairman or executive
member of dozens of local and international committees, both medical and public
service.
He is a Paul Harris Fellow of the Rotary Foundation of
Rotary International
Prof. Hassell is married to Lucinda Hassell, SRN, and they
are the parents of Yonette, Andrew and Christopher Hassell. His hobbies are
sailing, tennis and chess.
Looking back on a career that has to date spanned over 39
years, Professor Hassell had this to say: “I have enjoyed every moment of it,
and I look forward to continuing my work and my passion.”
“My term as president of the InterAmerican Heart Foundation
will, I am sure, be a challenging but fulfilling experience for me”, he said,
“and I look forward to working with a dedicated and talented team of
professionals to continue the important work of the Foundation, among which is
the reduction of disability and death from cardiovascular diseases and stroke in
the Americas.”
He also said that it was heartening to see the strides made
by the Heart Foundation of Barbados. “As one of the founding members of the
organization, it’s really great to see, not only how far it has come, but also
where it is going. We have only recently started the process that will chart the
course of the HFOB to a whole new level. There is a new management structure in
place, which will strengthen the organization internally as well as see the
implementation of new and dynamic heart health programmes.”
“I am happy to have contributed to making the term “healthy
lifestyle” not only a house-hold expression for many Barbadians, but a way of
life for many of them.”
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