Beloved teacher and University lecturer, Dr. Jamain Hatton is a ‘Special Person’

Sep 10, 2023 Features / Columnists, News, Special Person, Waterfalls Magazine

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Changing lives while simultaneously serving the medical and teaching professions…

BY REHANNA RAMSAY

Waterfalls Magazine – Given that September is designated Education Month; this publication has chosen to highlight the contributions of those serving the teaching profession with dedication, love and commitment.

This week, The Waterfalls will highlight the work of Dr. Jamain Hatton, a medical doctor, who also serves as a high school science teacher as well as a university lecturer.

As a medical doctor, Dr. Hatton’s end goal is to see equal access to healthcare nationwide but as a teacher, he is particularly interested in seeing those who are considered underprivileged and underserved get a quality education.

Since he is a strong believer that education is the truest equalizer of economic inequalities and social injustices, Dr. Hatton has devoted a significant portion of his time pouring into the nation’s children. He told The Waterfalls, that there is no better feeling than seeing his students, excel at school and in life. In fact, he said success is his only wish for others.

His job as a science teacher at Chase’s Academic Foundation and as a lecturer at the University of Guyana (UG)’s School of Medicine affords him the opportunity to contribute significantly to their elevation.

Dr. Hatton holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Medical Technology (Pass with Distinction) and a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery Degree (Pass with Distinction) from the University of Guyana.

In 2019, he was a member of the Guyana Youth Parliament where he was awarded the Speaker’s Award for his exceptional debating skills.

In 2020, he represented Guyana at the Commonwealth Youth Parliament where he acted as Chairman of the Health Committee and promoted the important conversation about COVID-19.

Additionally, Dr. Hatton has a YouTube channel with over 18,000 subscribers. On that channel, he gives free lessons to children all across the Caribbean in the subject areas of English and Science.

For this reason, in 2022, GTM Insurance featured him as an Unsung Hero of the Year for his outstanding work in education.

That same year, the University of Guyana awarded him the Council of the University of Guyana Prize for the student who has made the greatest contribution to the university in other areas of university life. Outside of academia, the Ann’s Grove, East Coast Demerara native enjoys a hot plate of ‘chicken’ curry, traveling, and sightseeing.

EARLY MOTIVATION

Early in his pursuit, Dr. Hatton was faced with some unfavourable circumstances to achieving his childhood dream of becoming a medical doctor.

He explained that his father Dexton Hatton was a coconut vendor, and his mother, Camille Hatton was a housewife.  As such, though, his parents loved him and his siblings very much; they could not afford to finance his dream of becoming a doctor. He recalled nevertheless that his parents always believed in his dreams and that the difficulties he faced were motivators to success.

“My school teacher at Clonbrook Nursery School, Ms. Lynis Robinson, told my mom that ‘there’s something special about Jamain; the way he encourages his classmates to cooperate with him to get tasks down, shows that he is a born leader.’”  It was his teachers; he said that encouraged him most.

“…Teachers in the likeness of Ms. Tamantha Castello, Althea Roberts, and Mikel Langhorne shaped my learning… I progressed to Cove and John Secondary School and later, President’s College for my secondary school education. Along the way, I was motivated by strong teachers like Ms. Winneth Benjamin, Ms. Chichester, and Ms. Brower. In retrospect, I now realize that it takes a strong and motivational teacher to make strong individuals,” he said.

Another determining factor was watching his father vend coconuts.

“In the early days of secondary school, I was just sailing through school and one day, I traveled to Georgetown and saw my father in his hustle. I was under a shade and he was in the rain with a basket of coconut on his head. At that point, I was moved to tears. Only then did I understand how hard my father worked to provide for his family and at that moment, I said to myself, “My father works too hard for me not to be great.” That was really the birth of my academic prowess,” he revealed.

Looking back at it all, Dr. Hatton said he is happy things happened the way they did.

“It’s really pressure that makes diamond develop and a calm sea has never made a skillful sailor. In other words, the situations and circumstances I’ve faced have helped shaped me into the person I am today,” he said.

He continued “The prayers of my mother and the humble, countryside upbringing have shaped my life tremendously and taught me contentment but determination, humility but awareness of my worth. I am most grateful for the fact that it taught me to value education and the beauty of hard work.”

YEARNING FOR SUCCESS

Dr. Hatton said at age 16, he had an unexplained yearning for success that forced him to become mature at that early point in his life.  At the age of 17 years old, he began teaching as a job to pay the bills and help him get to the university.

Prior to this, he said he never thought about being a teacher.  “You see my goal was always to be a medical doctor. That was always my dream but the circumstances of how I would become that medical doctor changed and teaching was the gig I picked up to financially support my quest to that goal,” he explained.

Though it wasn’t my career choice, the young Hatton soon realized that being a teacher was a golden opportunity to change lives as well.

“The way the eyes of children lit up when they finally understood a difficult topic gave me passion and made me love the teaching gig.

The way they smiled when they tasted success at the end of their high school journey motivated me to go for just another year. I have been saying that I will hang up the hat of a teacher when I become a doctor but now that I am, I cannot seem to get away,” he passionately asserted.

As a teacher, Dr. Hatton witnessed many students who were classified as “slow” learners go on to do great things on exams.

In fact, one of the hallmarks of his teaching career was seeing a student move from a Grade Five in CSEC English to a Grade One in eight months.  “That same young lady, Malika Dundas, went on to live out her childhood dream of being a Registered Nurse,” he said.

BECOMING DR. HATTON

To get into medical school, a student requires outstanding passes in advanced sciences. The first time he applied, the then-aspirant doctor was rejected.

He explained that his grades were just not good enough. He had two after that before he was accepted. To this end, he asserted “You see, the thing about success is that it may not come on the first attempt, sometimes it may not come on the second attempt but it is that willingness to try one more time that gives us the ability to earn our beautiful success.”

After nine years of relentless studies, Dr. Hatton graduated from the School of Medicine, on December 9, 2022.

“I am my family’s first doctor and passed with Distinction. I passed with distinction in the same thing that rejected me twice. Today, I am a lecturer in the School of Medicine at the University of Guyana,” he said beaming with pride.

Though he is qualified and started his work as a medical doctor, Dr. Hatton says that he believes his background in teaching will help him in a unique way to explain complex diseases to his patients. Dr. Hatton also wants to use his new profession to help change the culture in Guyana.

He noted that in healthcare, a problem quite often is that patients wait too late to seek medical attention.

He posited “A strong Guyanese culture is if we ignore our health-related problem, it will go away but when it does not and we finally go to the doctor, the cancer is too advanced or the diabetes already developed complications. We need to be more aggressive with our health, we only have one life.”

ROLE MODELS

Throughout his studies and professional journey, Dr. Hatton has had several role models.

While he accredits much of his success and achievement to hard work, Dr. Hatton noted that there were people who were keen on offering him mentorship and guidance throughout the process.

He said, “My older brother, Jamal Hatton, had been my role model while growing up. He was my first teacher and my first friend. He taught me literacy and numeracy from a tender age and birthed in me the burning desire to work hard.”

“Dr. Cecil Boston, Dean of the College of Medical Sciences, and Prof. Emmanuel Cummings, the current Deputy Vice Chancellor of UG, have been my role models for some time. They are perfect examples of how boys from the countryside can achieve their dreams by working hard and believing that education is a vehicle for change and transformation. Sir Henry Chase, the Principal of Chase’s Academic Foundation, and my uncles Tony Gomes and Kenrick Pellew are also persons I admire dearly,” he revealed.

Additionally, he said, “My family has been my rock; for all of my life, I’ve been the first of my family to do a lot of things and it motivates me to keep going and to continue to pave the way for the younger ones to achieve greater heights.”

The hardworking teacher and doctor said to be successful, one has to be willing to work harder than everyone else.

“Talent can only take you so far, if one is not willing to work hard, that talent often goes unutilized,” he said.

Dr. Hatton said too that outside of achieving his goal, his greatest achievement to date is making my mother proud.

“Nothing is more gratifying than seeing content and pride on the face of your mother, the one who first believed in my abilities.”  Ultimately, Dr. Hatton has his sights set on career politics.

“I believe they have real abilities to transform the lives of ordinary people especially those in the small villages and underserved communities,” he revealed.

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• Dr. Jamain Hatton, Education Month, Special Person, Teacher, University Lecturer

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