Our President
Dr. Aiken is the first graduate of The UWI DM Urology Programme. In 1998 he joined the Department of Surgery at The Mona Campus of The UWI and 2 years later became the head of Urology, a position he held until 2015.
He was Secretary of The Association of Surgeons from 2000 to 2008. He has published extensively on the local experience with prostate cancer and is a volunteer with the Jamaica Cancer Society where he screens men for prostate cancer.
Dr. Aiken is a Past President of the Jamaica Urological Society and the Caribbean Urological Association. He currently serves on the Board of the Medical Council of Jamaica. Dr. Aiken is married to Ella and has six children.
"Sixty years in the life of an organisation is a significant milestone. It engenders reflection on where the organisation is coming from, celebration of its past achievements and opportunities to hopefully learn from its past failures with an attitude of gratitude for both, while looking ahead and charting a course forward for growth, expanded impact and even greater achievement in the future in an atmosphere of expectancy and hopeful anticipation. The Association of Surgeons in Jamaica (ASJ) is the pre-eminent surgical association that serves as an umbrella organisation for all the surgical subspecialties represented in Jamaica. It was founded in 1958 by a group of visionary surgeons led by The late Professor, Hon. Sir John Golding. The ASJ fosters continuing surgical education and serves as a vehicle for the ready exchange of ideas, camaraderie and networking among local, regional and international surgeons that redounds to the benefit of our patients. The ASJ has grown numerically in terms of membership to its current level of 160 members, but of equal importance, it has grown in its positive impact on the local and regional surgical landscape. Members of the ASJ provide competent and compassionate surgical care everyday to people of Jamaica and the region. Many of our members are medical Chiefs of Staff and Senior Medical Officers leading many of our nation’s hospitals island-wide. Additionally, many of our members provide leadership at Universities in the region, in sports administration, public administration and in the political arena. The ASJ has been fortunate to have been led over the years by many exemplary surgeons who have served as Presidents and members of the ASJ Council. They have not only provided sterling leadership but have expanded the role of the ASJ over the years. More recently the ASJ as part of its corporate social responsibility has launched an annual fundraising event called “SCRUBS” which has so far raised 3 million Jamaican dollars which has been donated to the Jamaica Cancer Society. The primary focus of the ASJ is to engender excellent surgical care of Jamaican patients by being a vehicle through which there are opportunities for networking, knowledge transfer, skills acquisition and camaraderie. This is achieved by the ASJ hosting an annual scientific conference and banquet as well as having a yearly luncheon meeting and weekend retreat. These all provide opportunities for networking, camaraderie and continuing surgical education. Under the auspices of the ASJ, laparoscopic surgery was introduced into Jamaica through the efforts of Dr. Clive Thomas. Other initiatives of the ASJ over the years have included surgical outreach to rural hospitals, fact-finding missions to Cuba, and meetings held in other territories such as Grenada. Our members have also provided surgical care to other territories in times of disaster and to provide relief. As we look ahead, we are grateful for our founders and past leaders and we commit to continuing their legacy of engendering competent, compassionate and ethical surgical care of Jamaican patients through creating opportunities for continuing surgical education in an environment of mutual respect. We commit to continue to expand the role of the ASJ and its positive impact on Jamaica and the region by lobbying and advocating for resources/facilities that allow for an acceptable standard of surgical care in our nation’s hospitals on behalf of our members and for the benefit of our patients. We also commit to work more closely with the University of the West Indies to formulate local guidelines for the surgical care of a number of diseases, a process that has already begun.
Dr. William Aiken
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Dr. William Aiken
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- President's Message