Diversity in Medicine and Science at Upstate

Sir Frederick Ballantyne MD was born on July 5, 1936, in Layou, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, in the Caribbean. He earned his bachelor’s degree in chemistry at Howard University in 1959. He went on to the SUNY Upstate Medical University to study medicine and earned his medical degree in 1963. Describing himself as “the sole Black individual” in his class, he was elected president of the student body in his senior year. Upon graduation from Upstate, his internship was completed at Montreal General Hospital in Montreal, Quebec, in 1968, followed by a residency in internal medicine at Rochester General Hospital and a fellowship in cardiology in Rochester, New York. Sir Frederick Ballantyne MD was honored with Upstate's Humanitarian Award for improving the health of the people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines in 2013. 

Sir Frederick Ballantyne MD was dedicated to improving healthcare service in his home country St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Upon returning to St. Vincent and the Grenadines to tackle a shortage of medical doctors and decentralization of the medical services, he served as a medical director at the Kingston General Hospital from 1971 to 1985. He also served as an assistant dean in clinical studies at St. George’s University Medical School from 1976 to 1985. He was involved in the establishment of Trinity School of Medicine which opened in 2008. He also had organized scholarships for students and instituted the hospital’s visiting specialist program offering free accommodation to medical specialists who volunteer in St. Vincent’s hospitals and clinics. He was appointed as Governor-General of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and received the Knighthood by Queen Elizabeth of England in 2002 serving in that role until 2019. 
 

1. Videos Featuring Sir Frederick Ballantyne MD 

• Trinity Dedicates Learning Centre to Sir Frederick N. Ballantyne, GCMG, MD

  Trinity School of Medicine – October 9, 2019

2. Other Resources 

• Humanitarian Award Upstate Medical University 
• Upstate to honor Governor-General of St. Vincents and the Grenadines with alumni award, Upstate Medical University, September 20, 2013
• Upstate Alumni Journal, Winter 2013

Patton RD, Bordia A, Ballantyne F, Ryan GF, Goldstein S, Heinle RA. Bundle-of-His recording of complete heart block during cardiac catheterization: electrophysiologic documentation of bilateral bundle branch block. Am Heart J. 1971;81(1):108-113. doi:10.1016/0002-8703(71)90060-3