Dr. Phillips will shortly be returning to Jamaica. It is her expectation that through the full utilisation of her expertise she will be afforded the opportunity to make a significant contribution to the advancement of her country and in her notable areas of specialisation. - Contributed ON MARCH 28, 2003 Jamaican national, Dr. Christine Angela Phillips received a Doctoral degree in Health Science from the Graduate School of Medicine at the University of Tokyo. The University of Tokyo, and its Faculty of Medicine in particular, is widely considered to be the most prestigious institution of higher learning in Japan and one of the leading universities in the world.
Dr. Phillips commenced the Doctoral programme in 1999. In the work leading to her degree she developed a new concept in non-pharmacological treatment (that is, treatment without drugs) for elderly people with dementia. She calls her method "living rehabilitation" and she tested and demonstrated it in a qualitative ethnographic study.
Dr. Phillips showed that her concept of "living rehabilitation" can be used to enhance open expression, social interaction, and active participation in life by elderly people with dementia. Through her research she has made a unique contribution to the advancement of the health sciences and upon receiving her degree the university indicated that she was "one of the very few students from the Western Hemisphere to have fulfilled the very demanding requirements leading to her graduation". The conferment of her Doctorate represents the culmination of rigorous scholarship and research which also included intensive Japanese language training.
A brilliant and multi-talented individual, Dr. Phillips has demonstrated the capacity to excel and contribute with distinction in a number of academic disciplines. She attained fluency in the Chinese language during her tenure at the Central Academy of Drama in the People's Republic of China after receiving a scholarship from the Government of that country in 1992. She subsequently completed a dual Masters degree in Stage Directing and Literature Studies in 1997. This outstanding Jamaican has thus achieved the extraordinary feat of attaining fluency in both Chinese and Japanese in record time.
