Sean Parkinson – The woman’s doctor

HE’S an extrovert who is persistent, passionate, confident, driven and motivated. Obstetrician-gynaecologist Dr Sean Parkinson will tell you that from as early as age seven, he knew what his career path would be as he would often stop by the window of a doctor’s office in his hometown Savanna-la-mar and feast his eyes on the different procedures.

“The window was usually wide open. I would pass and see the doctor dealing with patients and he looked so professional and proficient at what he was doing,” Parkinson said.

“Every evening when passing to go home I would peep. After a period he would lock up the window, then he started putting up curtains and my fascination grew much more when my mom used to talk about doctors in the community and how much she admired them. When she brought me to the doctor around age 12 she couldn’t get me to leave as I was asking questions about medicine and how to get into medicine. I developed an interest from then and as I got older I had a better understanding and learned that obstetricians and gynaecologists look after women and women’s health and somehow that fascinated me.”

Additionally, he said he has a passion for taking care of women, driven by his mother’s invaluable contribution to his life. But Parkinson said he knew becoming a doctor would be no easy feat and he had to remain self-motivated to break the cycle of poverty he experienced as a youngster.

And so, with an absentee father, and no one to emulate but his mother who fathered him, he developed the courage to chart his resilience through life.

“It is miraculous that I am where I am today,” he explained.

“I had a difficult time growing up, my father wasn’t there at all and it was a tumultuous period in terms of making it through school financially. But I always had self-motivation and understood that I had to work hard to get to where I want in life. I was surrounded by people in school who were affluent and while I was never envious, my spirit of resilience attracted those people to me as they saw where I was coming from and how hard I worked to try and uplift myself from poverty.”

He added that part of his motivation was his determination to not disappoint his mother as he saw how hard she worked and the sacrifices she made to ensure he was not left wanting.

“No one could look on me from the outside and see me any differently from my friends,” he said.

After passing his Common Entrance Examinations to attend The Mannings School, Parkinson successfully completed five years there, then went on to Munro College where he said he really started to make his mark.

“In upper sixth form as a new student at the school I captained the Schools Challenge Quiz team in 1997 and this was at a time when Munro had a very rich tradition in quiz. Apart from this I participated in sports and the windmill project, which generates electricity for the school and the community,” he said.

Determined to continue achieving more, with the help of scholarships and support from his mother who left for the United States to help with his studies, he went on to study medicine at the University of the West Indies and started pursuing his passion, which he says requires a personality that is caring and patient, because many times women come to him because they just want to talk.

“You have to have a listening ear, especially in clinic. Patients will gravitate towards you when they realise you’ll take extra time out to listen and I value that,” he said.

Parkinson, who is employed at the University Hospital of the West Indies, does not allow a patient to leave his presence until they understand fully what’s happening to them.

“I take time out to explain and let them know what is going on. Patients have a tendency to adapt to the ‘doctor is in charge’ mode and when you tell them ‘X’, without hesitating they accept it, when the truth is they might not understand what’s happening. I know what it is like to go to the mechanic and I don’t understand what the mechanic is saying, therefore I take time out to explain in detail what is happening and the important thing is to always ask the patient at the end if they understand and they won’t leave until they explain to me what I have explained to them,” he said.

“Patients want that more than anything. They want to understand what’s happening with them more than we realise. I feel unfulfilled if the consultation closes and I never got enough information from the patient. I’d rather get to the root of the problem than put a Band-Aid over it.”

Parkinson’s true passion lies in gynaecologic oncology, and he said it’s unfortunate that preventable cancers, especially cervical cancers, are still wreaking havoc in the lives of women.

“Sixty per cent of women who develop cervical cancer either never had a Pap smear or didn’t follow protocol,” he said. “There is a Caribbean Gynaecologic Oncology Society coming on stream which I’m going to be a part of and the aim is improving the awareness of the Caribbean and Jamaican population about cancers and the prevention of cancers. We shouldn’t have people dying from breast cancer and cervical cancer.”

Apart from his job, Dr Parkinson, 35, said his greatest achievement is being married to his wife Debra and being charged with the responsibility of taking care of his family and being a good father to his sons Isaiah and Liam.

“It was something my mother insisted that I have — a wife whom I love and she loves me the same, and a family that cares for me and a family I care for. In my mind I never understood why my dad wasn’t there but regardless, everyone in my community viewed me as a promising young man and that motivated me to become a model father,” he said.

When not on his daily duties, Parkinson takes time to give back to the quiz programme at Munro College.

“My passion for quiz is unwavering and since that time when I played I have given back to Munro. Whether it is driving down there all hours of the night to help the team to train, I do it. Anything I’m asked to do to support the team financially or with my knowledge of books and journals, I literally make time to do that as it motivates them as they get to see where I’m coming from and I hope they look to me as an inspiration,” he said.

A few of the people Parkinson holds in high esteem are Drs Ian Banbury, Carole Rattary and Matthew Taylor, who he said have been more than an inspiration for him.

Parkinson said he strongly believes that where there’s a will there’s a way, and when a situation becomes stressful he simply finds his inner strength.

“I never leave God out, because when things become complicated He will find a way. I rarely get anxious,” he said.

He added that regarding his work, it’s not about him, but it’s ensuring that his patients are totally satisfied with the level of care they receive.