WONCA, the World Organization of Family Doctors, has awarded Jamaican caregiver Dr Aldyth Buckland, an accomplished general practitioner and family doctor, the organisation’s Five Star Doctor Award, which celebrates excellence in health care.

“The winners for 2024 have demonstrated outstanding contributions in the five key areas: care provider, decision-maker, communicator, community leader, and manager,” WONCA said in a statement.

WONCA North America region member organisations are the American Academy of Family Physicians; the American Board of Family Medicine; the Association of Departments of Family Medicine; the Caribbean College of Family Physicians, the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC), and CFPC Section of Teachers & Section of Researchers.

Dr Buckland, co-chair of the Planetary Health Working Group at the Caribbean College of Family Physicians, has been a leading advocate for tobacco control and planetary health. Her extensive work in family practice, combined with her certifications in various holistic therapies, demonstrates her holistic approach to patient care. Dr Buckland’s leadership in medical organisations and her advocacy efforts have led to significant health policy changes in Jamaica. Her effective communication and team-building skills have made her a respected figure in both her local community and the broader medical community.

Dr Buckland attended Wolmer’s Prep and Wolmer’s Girls’, where she played football at school and was a member of the school choir and a senior prefect. While in high school, through the Red Cross, she was certified in home nursing and first aid and participated in the Friends of the University Hospital of the West Indies programme during summer holidays.

She was interested in becoming a medical doctor, a teacher, and a farmer. She attended The University of the West Indies (UWI) and graduated with the MBBS in 1984.

She has had her private practice in Kingston since 1993. She had been an accredited member of the Caribbean College Of Family Physicians since 1994. In the Jamaica chapter, she served in various roles.

Dr Buckland received a 2009 award from the Department of Community Health and Psychiatry in appreciation for her contribution to the teaching of the medical programme at The UWI. The UWI Alumni Online listed her in its Points of Pride as a person who had excelled in her category and had been recognised as having regional or international impact. In 2017-18 she served on the Ministry of Health human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine introduction steering committee to prevent cervical cancer in high school girls.

“I am really delighted to have been selected for this award as I have valued the attributes of the Five Star Doctor as together these attributes always yield excellence in health care,” Dr Buckland said. “I hope that this award will inspire other health-care professionals to embrace these attributes. Working as a team and in teams we can improve health care for our people, our families, our communities in Jamaica, in the Caribbean, in the North America region, and the other regions of the world.”

Dr Buckland currently practices integrative medicine and has been trained in various holistic methods such as hypnosis, neurolinguistic programming, time techniques, and emotional freedom techniques.