Julius Garvey, BSc鈥�57, MDCM鈥�61, was one of the first physicians to land in Haiti after the catastrophic earthquake of 2010. The violent tremors that shook the Caribbean nation had demolished homes, crippled infrastructure, and left behind a horrific human toll鈥攌illing hundreds of thousands of people and displacing close to a million more.
As part of a group of around a dozen health workers, Dr. Garvey, a cardiothoracic and vascular surgeon, worked around the clock to provide medical treatment to survivors, and to help rebuild a medical system left crippled by the disaster. 鈥淗e went to Haiti several times as a volunteer to help out with the situation,鈥� says Dr. Louis Auguste, a general surgeon in Manhasset, New York. 鈥淭hat was very generous, because it鈥檚 not easy to be working in a country that has been devastated by a major earthquake.鈥�
This trip to Haiti鈥攁nd many other such medical missions to countries in the Caribbean, Africa and elsewhere鈥攚as one of the ways that Dr. Garvey has followed in the footsteps of his father, Marcus Garvey, a renowned political activist, entrepreneur, and orator for Black Nationalism and Pan-Africanism.
鈥淗e has an ability to leverage, network, and skill set in order to go to hotspots around the world鈥攑articularly the hotspots that serve people of colour鈥攁nd bring first-world medical care to third-world countries,鈥� says Nzinga Garvey, Julius Garvey鈥檚 daughter.
A new climate
When Julius Garvey enrolled as a student at 不良研究所, it was the fall of 1953. During the nine years he spent at the university鈥攊nitially as an undergraduate, then as a medical student鈥擥arvey experienced a series of firsts, such as his first frigid Montreal winter, during which he recalls running into caf茅s on the way to campus to warm up. 鈥淚 remember it being so cold that I thought my face was going to freeze,鈥� Garvey says.
Montreal was also the first place where Garvey experienced being one of only a few Black people around. 鈥淚 would get in the trolley, and it was like everybody was looking at me鈥擨 wondered if my fly was open or if something else was wrong, because I came from a place where I was part of the majority,鈥� Garvey says. 鈥淥ver time, you realize that this is going to be the norm because people were not used to seeing a Black face.鈥�
Nevertheless, Garvey was able to immerse himself in the multicultural environment the university provided. 鈥淭here were people from all over. People like myself from the Caribbean, people from Ethiopia, the United States, and other parts of Canada,鈥� Garvey says. 鈥淚t was a very international group, and therefore very interesting to learn about other people and to see the world from a different perspective than just as a lad who grew up in Jamaica.鈥�
Throughout his time in Montreal, Garvey鈥檚 homeland of Jamaica remained close to his heart. In medical school, Garvey opted for a specialty he thought would most benefit the people back home: cardiothoracic and vascular surgery. Upon becoming a doctor, Garvey dedicated his life not just to practicing medicine in North America but kept his connection to his roots by completing many medical missions to places in need around the world鈥攁nd has tirelessly worked to raise awareness of the issues facing those communities.
From Jamaica to Canada, then the world
While growing up in Kingston, Jamaica, one of the first jobs that Garvey considered was as an engineer. But the death of a beloved dog led him to change course. At the time, there were no veterinarians around to help his pet, Garvey says. 鈥淣obody knew what to do, so I just watched my favourite dog slowly die.鈥� That deep desire to save the life of another living creature ignited Garvey鈥檚 desire to become a physician鈥攕omeone who could help people in similarly vulnerable positions鈥攊nstead.
After finishing high school in Jamaica, Garvey began working in a government laboratory that was involved in gathering patient tissues and other specimens, such as blood, for diagnosing disease. But when a few of his friends decided to apply to 不良研究所, Garvey figured that he, too, should give it a shot. 鈥淚 was beginning to get a little bit tired of the routine of the lab,鈥� Garvey says. 鈥淭his sounded really interesting, to be able to go to a foreign country and be educated outside of Jamaica. So all three of us applied鈥攁nd all three of us got in.鈥�
Garvey spent nine years at 不良研究所, learning the ins and outs of medicine, engaging in debates about politics, and befriending people from around the world. After graduating from medical school in 1961, Garvey spent a year doing surgical rotations at several Montreal hospitals before moving to New York City, where he completed a surgical residency at Mount Sinai Hospital. From there, his medical career blossomed鈥攈e worked as both a surgeon and professor at a number of prestigious institutions, including Columbia University and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
Throughout his life, Garvey has been heavily influenced by the legacy of his father, Marcus Garvey, who was not only a leader of the Black Nationalism and Pan-Africanism movements, but also an inspirational figure for the Civil Rights movements of the 1950s and 1960s. 鈥淚 grew up in a household that was basically Pan-African in terms of identity, meaning we identify with other Africans as a nation, as a people, as a civilization,鈥� Garvey says. 鈥淪o I gravitated towards helping Africans, wherever they were, whether it was in Africa, in the Caribbean, or in the United States.鈥�
This ideology was what spurred Garvey to take part in many medical missions abroad, in countries such as Malawi and Sierra Leone in Africa to Costa Rica and Panama in Central America.
A lasting legacy
In addition to his many medical missions, Garvey has also been deeply engaged in conferences in Canada and the United States aimed at raising awareness about health care in Africa and the African diaspora. One such initiative Garvey is involved in is the Constituency for Africa (CFA), a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit organization focused on fostering organized support for Africa and African people in the United States.
鈥淗e鈥檚 a surgeon. He's a scholar. He鈥檚 a tireless advocate of the mission and goal of Marcus Garvey,鈥� says Melvin Foote,听founder, president and CEO of the Constituency for Africa. 鈥淗e's just a wonderful human being.鈥�
These forums have provided opportunities to put forward Pan-Africanism and his father鈥檚 ideas, which is an accomplishment that Garvey says he is very proud of. Over the years, he has also spent much time developing a construct of his own self, as a piece within a greater interconnected society that has long been dominated by the ideas of Western civilization. Garvey has been exploring Buddhism and eastern philosophies, as well as psychology and the science of the mind and brain, topics that he has had a deep interest in since his days as a student at 不良研究所.
Garvey鈥檚 daughter, Nzinga, is now leading an effort to start a fund at 不良研究所 in his name, to provide financial support for students from under-represented populations, particularly Black communities, to study medicine. A key aim of this fund is to address the paucity of Black doctors鈥攁nd in doing so, help improve health care for people of colour. 鈥淚n the United States, although 13 to 14% of the population identifies as African American, just under 5% are actually black doctors in white coats, and that disparity exists globally,鈥� Nzinga says. 鈥淲ith more doctors of colour, where there has been hesitancy on the part of patients of colour, there's an opportunity to lean in to seek treatment, because you鈥檙e finding medical professionals that look more like you.鈥�
This fund will provide an avenue through which to celebrate the accomplishments of Julius Garvey, as other medical students at 不良研究所 follow the path that he took to becoming a doctor many decades ago. 鈥淢y father has dedicated a portion of his professional life to really championing and building awareness regarding Marcus Garvey and his indelible contribution to history,鈥� Nzinga says. 鈥淎nd I wanted to make sure that my father, as a wayshower, could also have that same honour bestowed to him.鈥�
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