Dr. Rochelle Williams ’84
What have you been up to since graduating?
Upon graduating from St Andrews she was awarded a United World College scholarship to attend The United World College of the Atlantic in Wales, UK. After successfully completing her International Baccalaureate Diploma she was awarded a Lyford Cay Scholarship to attend The University of Western Ontario in London Ontario Canada. She was in the honors biology program at Western. She graduated from University of Western Ontario with a BSc degree in Biology and was accepted at The University of The West Indies, Mona campus in Jamaica.
Medicine had been a life long dream from childhood as she always wanted to help people achieve better health and medical care in The Bahamas. She graduated from The University of The West Indies with her MBBS medical degree. Upon returning home she worked at The Princess Margaret Hospital as an intern and senior house officer for many years, in the departments of Obstetric and Gynecology and Family Medicine. Her ability to speak Spanish and French has been very helpful in treating a wide variety of patients. She started these languages at St. Andrews. An avid photographer since high school she continued to take photos as she travelled all over the world. The love of the outdoors meant that she did a lot of hiking and climbing in Canada and Wales. This lead to her love of running and she has run numerous races from the 5 k to the marathon. So far having run 16 marathons to date including the Pikes Peak Marathon up to 14,110 feet in Colorado.
She was the medical director of the UWC Bahamas fundraising triathlon that was held annually at Jaws beach Nassau for 4 years. Dr. Williams did her post graduate training in London, England. She trained at The Homerton University Hospital and St Mary’s Hospital in London. Once successfully completing her post graduate training she returned to The Bahamas and worked in Family Medicine at The Princess Margaret Hospital and privately. She was actively involved in many facets of the Family Medicine post graduate training program at The Princess Margaret Hospital and worked as a senior physician in Family Medicine/ General Practice department of The Princess Margaret Hospital. She also ran the Thursday afternoon Colposcopy clinic as a part of her work with the Obstetrics and Gynecology department of The Princess Margaret Hospital. Dr. Williams also assisted with the treatment of the HIV patients. She has a love of research and has written many papers that have been presented by invitation at conferences locally and in London. Her latest research paper was a review paper that was written to assist in the safe opening of school during The COVID 19 pandemic.
She currently works privately in Family Medicine and Pediatrics in Nassau. She loves spending time with her family, her husband and 2 daughters, 8 and 5 and a half. They love participating in local running events, like the Colour Run and the Bahamas Road masters 5k. as a family.
What are some fond memories of your school days at St Andrews?
Having spent more than 12 years at St Andrews, there are many. She loved participating in the annual school play and in her last year she had one of the leads in Arthur Miller’s play The crucible. A proud member of Carib house being able to participate in sports day was a fond memory. The fun and competition were great. Representing the school whether playing as a defensive player in field hockey or on the Its Academic Team was also a fond memory. Who could forget the fundraising walk with classmates to raise money for the prom. Finally Mr. Murray’s history class and Mr. Gordon Mill’s English class. Lots of laughter but so much learning at the same time. An enjoyable 12 years of school. Many lifelong friends made thanks to St Andrews.
Ivan Carey
What have you been up to since graduating?
Since graduating from St Andrew’s, I went on to receive a Bachelor of Science degree in Music Education and I recently obtained a Masters in Education. After graduating from University, I returned to St Andrew’s as a member of the faculty. I am the Primary school music teacher and the Head of the best house, Arawak! I am thankful to be married to his very supportive wife, Vanessa, and together we have two girls, Chloe and Emma.
What are some fond memories of your school days at St Andrews?
I attended St Andrew’s from ELC through 12th grade. My memories are endless. From marching in the “police band” in first grade, to competing in the National Arts Festival from 3rd grade up to highschool, to making ice cream sundaes to celebrate learning all of my timetables. I cannot forget our seniors day parade as we said our final good-bye’s to faculty, staff, and students. These goodbyes turned out to be more of “see you later” since I returned just four years later to teach alongside such a dedicated faculty. The fondest of all memories was the personal impact that so many of my teachers had on my life as they went the extra mile to make sure that I succeeded.
