The University of West Indies has named Cobalt’s Mr. Ragbir (Consultant Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon) as Honouree for their 2024 Graduation Ceremony in his hometown of Jamaica.
The University of the West Indies (The UWI) continues its annual tradition of honouring the sterling contributions of a select group of the region’s notable luminaries. The University Council approved the conferral of 13 honorary degrees at the 2024 graduation ceremonies across The UWI’s five campuses. This year’s honorary graduands have had long and impactful careers in the areas of advocacy and activism, medicine, tourism and culture, sport, business, education, science and the music industry.
Expert Consultant Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon, Mr. Maniram Ragbir has specialised in the field for 30 years. Based at the Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust & Cobalt Hospital, part of Ramsay Health Care UK, he currently serves as Clinical Lead for the North of England Bone and Soft Tissue Tumour Service and Director of The North East Microsurgery Training Course. Mr. Ragbir is appointed visiting Professor at the University of Trieste in Italy 2024/2025, an Honorary Senior Lecturer in the School of Medical Education at Newcastle University; an Examiner for the European Board of Plastic Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery (EBOPRAS); and FRCS (Plast) for the Royal College of Surgeons of England.
Leading the field in sarcoma and head and neck reconstruction, he has published extensively and made numerous presentations to learned societies including regionally in Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana and internationally in the UK, Finland, Malaysia, Chile, Iraq, USA, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Pakistan and India. For his research his team has secured £1.45 M in grant funding.
Mr. Ragbir’s repertoire of public service and volunteer work is outstanding. Though based in England, he frequently travels to Trinidad to conduct probono, complex reconstructive procedures that are beyond the capacity of regional surgeons.
Mr. Ragbir has also made significant contributions to The UWI in the development of the syllabus and curriculum for the DM Plastic Surgery programme at the Mona Campus. He has gone on to serve as the External Examiner for the first two years of the new programme. Dr Ragbir also assists in training UWI graduates in postgraduate surgery, and lectures at the Caribbean College of Surgeons. In 2024, he served as the external examiner for The UWI MBBS exams on all campuses.
He is actively planning missions to Tanzania, Uganda, and Guyana where he plans for a Plastic Surgery training programme at the University of Guyana and another programme to assist the underprivileged in need of plastic surgery.
Mr. Ragbir is the first Caribbean surgeon, and the only UWI alumnus, to have been appointed President of the British Association of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons, one of the most prestigious groups of Plastic Surgeons worldwide. He was also recently named an Honorary Member of the Association of Plastic Surgeons of India.
