MEDICS in Bradford have been sharing their pioneering skills with a doctor who travelled more than 4,000 miles from his hospital job in St Lucia to watch them work.

Dr Aylwin Benjamin has spent more than two months at Bradford Royal Infirmary, part of Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, shadowing the hospital’s gastroenterology team.

He took unpaid leave from finishing his post graduate training at the University of the West Indies Medical School, where he is specialising in internal medicine, to see first-hand the ground-breaking work of consultant gastroenterologist Dr Sulleman Moreea and his team.

Dr Moreea and a team of fellow volunteers have been giving up their own free time since 2009 to lead endoscopy workshops and train doctors in St Lucia in gastro-intestinal endoscopy, helping to set up two endoscopy units out there at Victoria Hospital and St Jude Hospital.

Dr Benjamin said he organised his visit to Bradford after doctors at the Victoria Hospital recommended he meet Dr Moreea.

“I was absolutely thrilled when Dr Moreea told me if I was willing to learn then the Bradford team was willing to teach me. Everyone has been so kind to me while I’ve been here and I have been amazed at what I have witnessed at Bradford Teaching Hospitals.”

During his time at the BRI he has been involved with the inflammatory bowel clinic, gone on ward rounds with consultants, seen the hepatology clinic and had intensive training on the endoscopy simulator.

Dr Benjamin hopes to complete his post-graduate studies next May and plans to study for a fellowship in gastroenterology, encouraged in part by his Bradford experience.

“This has been the most academically fulfilling experience for me. It has been so valuable in allowing me to refine my skills – skills which I now hope to take back to Barbados, St Lucia and the islands. I would love to be able to take up the marvellous work that Dr Moreea has begun out there. I would love to continue with his legacy,” he said.

Dr Benjamin has also become a fan of Bradford food and drinking tea.

He said: “I have loved the culture in Bradford too, especially the food, and thanks to my time at the hospital I have now become a tea drinker. In fact Dr Moreea bought me a teapot as a gift. I have learned the value of a cup of tea with colleagues.

He added: “One thing I will take back to Barbados and St Lucia with me is the professionalism of the doctors and nurses at Bradford Royal Infirmary and the culture of camaraderie. It has been like belonging to one big family.”

Dr Moreea added: “Dr Benjamin has made a huge sacrifice in giving up his time and funding himself to come here. It has been a pleasure hosting him and passing on our knowledge. He has shown a lot of enthusiasm and has been keen to learn from us."

“Most doctors in St Lucia are general doctors; they do not yet have a gastroenterologist. So we really hope that Dr Benjamin can in the future develop this speciality and put these skills to good use. That’s why we spare the time to welcome him and dedicated doctors like him, as we’ve done before. We want the doctors from less fortunate places to be as good as we are here in Bradford.”