Negril's Orbin Barnes Named Valedictorian at Jinzhou Medical University in China

Orbin Barnes, a 24-year-old from Negril, Westmoreland, said he has long been used to doing well in school, but he still never expected to leave medical school in China as valedictorian or to stand before his graduating class and address them in Mandarin. "I'm surrounded by really brilliant students so I would never imagine that I would top the batch," Barnes said.

He explained that medicine did not begin as a fixed plan from early on. While he was in high school, he was drawn to maths and to figuring things out, and he also had a strong interest in science and engineering. By the later years of fifth form, though, his curiosity was leaning more heavily towards the human body, especially anatomy and disease, and that deepened his interest in a medical career.

Barnes said the moment that truly clarified things came while he was casually watching YouTube. He saw a video built around a doctor's daily routine, and that helped him picture himself in a role where he could help people. Even then, he said, he initially pushed back against the idea because his older brother had already gone into medicine and is now a doctor. After thinking it over seriously, however, he accepted that the profession was still the right fit for him. "But I couldn't resist anymore," he said with a laugh.

Barnes spent seven years at Munro College and left with nine CSEC subjects along with CAPE Units One and Two. As he moved towards university, the COVID-19 pandemic threw his plans into uncertainty and made it hard to know where he would continue his education. Instead of depending on one option, he sent out a number of applications to institutions in Cuba, Russia, China and Jamaica, hoping that once responses came in, he would be in a better position to choose.

He eventually received an offer to study medicine at The University of the West Indies, but Barnes said going overseas was the more practical financial decision for his family, especially because his older brother was already enrolled there. He said his personality also made that path easier to accept. "And I am more extroverted, so I didn't mind studying abroad," he said. In the end, he accepted a place at Jinzhou Medical University in China. Because he had already adjusted to boarding school life at Munro College, he said the move abroad did not intimidate him. His parents supported the decision and covered the cost of the full six-year programme, which included five years of classes and a one-year internship.

Still, the journey did not start in China. Barnes said he remained in Jamaica for nearly two years because border restrictions kept him from travelling, so the first stretch of his degree happened from his bedroom in Negril. He was supposed to leave in October 2020, right in the middle of the coronavirus period, but that departure had to wait. During that time, he studied online and began learning Mandarin from home. He said the process could be discouraging at times because he was practising in his room while everything around him was still in patois, and he felt being in the actual environment would help.

Once he finally got to China, Barnes realised that basic Mandarin would not carry him far enough, so he put in added work to become more fluent. He said his Chinese friends were a big help in that process. He also relied on his phone and on an adviser who was proficient in both Mandarin and English, and that support helped him understand what was being explained. At the same time, he said he remained fully committed to performing well in his studies while adapting to a new culture and language.

Now a registered medical doctor, Barnes said the Jamaican education system played a major role in preparing him for that success. In his view, it trains students to think critically instead of simply memorising information, and that foundation helped him handle his exams. He said the tests did come with challenges, but he had no real trouble managing them. As time passed, he began to see that graduating as valedictorian was within reach. He said the final exam required to certify him as a medical doctor was the last major hurdle standing between him and that title, and he cleared it with the highest score.

Barnes said he tried to keep the news from his parents because he wanted the achievement to be a surprise, but he was not able to hold it in for very long. His mother and brother travelled to China in June to watch him graduate and deliver his speech in Mandarin, while his father followed the occasion proudly from Jamaica. Barnes said it was around then that the full size of the accomplishment really began to settle on him.