Postby TriP » July 5th, 2016, 6:44 pm
Local History ~ Medicine
By law, slave owners from 1824 on, had to employ a doctor who paid regular visits to the slaves.
Through fear of prosecution the estate owners employed the doctor but tried their best to avoid paying
When East Indian immigration was introduced into the colony in 1845, the estate owners made arrangements with private practitioners for medical care of their indentured labourers; later the Indian Office objected to this arrangement
The year 1857 witnessed the completion of the main block of buildings of the General Hospital in Port of Spain, and the San Fernando Hospital was opened in 1874.
After 1875, a number of district hospitals sprung up.
A resident Surgeon was appointed to the Port of Spain Hospital in 1874, and in 1884 the staff consisted of a Resident Surgeon and three Assistant Surgeons.
In Trinidad, the years 1900 -1950 were to be years when the General Surgeon was the rule rather than the exception. Specialists were few and far between and their advent in Trinidad was delayed by the Second World War, 1939 - 1945
From 1900 -1950 there were considerable changes in Trinidad both in the construction of hospitals and also in administration.
Surgery continued to make strides. In 1967 the teaching of medical students began at the Port of Spain General Hospital.
From 1989 the Medical Faculty of the University of the West Indies was based at Mount Hope, with all the necessary pre-clinical training.
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