JAMAICAN MEDICAL doctor and Novamed Founder Dr David Walcott has been appointed to the advisory board of University College London’s Global Business School for Health (UCL GBSH) – the world’s first business school exclusively dedicated to health and healthcare management.

Walcott is the youngest person and the only person of African descent on the 11-member external advisory board for the UK-based school, which comprises global leaders in the healthcare sector. He was earmarked for the role based on his successful track record in healthcare services, medical education and health innovation in the Caribbean and Latin America.

“I am honoured to be among the team of world-leading industry experts who will help to steer this pioneering institution,” Walcott said. “I am excited to help to solve the greatest challenges to healthcare access through innovative leadership and strategic partnerships.”

Walcott noted that the GBSH was established by UCL in response to the collective global need for better healthcare management, which has been highlighted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaking to Walcott’s appointment, director of UCL GBSH, Nora Colton, shared, “I am delighted to have David Walcott on our external advisory board. David brings a wealth of experience and expertise to our emerging school. It is through the engagement of world-leading experts like David that we can begin to professionalise and reimagine healthcare management.

The new institution is already making waves, banking on the UCL’s ratings as the fourth highest ranked university in the United Kingdom (UK), following only Oxford, Cambridge, and Imperial College London. The prestigious university boasts world-renowned alumni such as Indian activist and philosopher Mahatma Gandhi, inventor of the first telephone Alexander Graham Bell, and the molecular biologist who first identified the structure of DNA, Francis Crick.

UNIQUE IN COURSE OFFERINGS

Walcott added that the school is unique in its course offerings, as it allows students to study hybridised business and healthcare modules instead of the rigid healthcare-focused selections that are offered by general business schools. Walcott said this development by the UCL will drive greater entrepreneurial efforts and positive transformation within the global health systems.

Earlier this year Walcott, a trained immunologist and Rhodes Scholar, was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum – duly recognising him as one of the world’s most promising leaders under the age of 40.

He was also honoured among the first class of 11 Healthcare Innovation Fellows by one of the world’s largest healthcare innovation groups – Rock Health – this year.

Through Novamed, the healthcare company that he founded in 2018, Dr Walcott and his team have been helping to transform healthcare services, medical education, and health innovation in the Caribbean. Through its medical education arm, First Step, and its professional consultancy for medical practitioners, CareerMD, Novamed is regionally recognised as a one-stop shop for medical students and doctors in the Caribbean and Latin America who want to access further training to advance their careers.

Walcott, a graduate of Campion College and The University of the West Indies , worked at the Kingston Public Hospital before attending the University of Oxford, where he obtained his master’s degree in immunology, followed by a doctor of philosophy in clinical medicine.

Walcott also holds a mini-MBA (Master of Business Administration) from INSEAD and Harvard Business School and speaks six foreign languages, which have enabled him to engage healthcare sectors around the globe.