Twin doctors making a mark in public healthcare

Twin sisters, Dr Tamara Henry-Gilpin and Dr Tamika Henry, are quietly transforming public healthcare, working in parallel roles that mirror not just their training but their shared sense of purpose.

Henry-Gilpin serves as medical officer of health for St Mary, where she is responsible for the technical services in primary care for the parish. In neighbouring St Ann, Henry holds a similar post, where she ensures that things are in place for primary healthcare, while also coordinating responses at the secondary level, particularly in times of disaster. Their professional symmetry is striking and often confusing for those who they encounter. One of their most memorable experiences occurred while they were both working in the hospital, when a patient refused to believe he was being seen by a different doctor after a shift changed.

"He said, 'Doctor, I just saw you and told you I want to go home', and I had to explain, 'I have to look in your docket. I don't know your case'," Henry-Gilpin recounted. "I had to ask a colleague to tell him that I'm a twin, and even then, he didn't believe it at first." She said that their closeness is the foundation of all that they do. Henry agreed.

"We don't have a high level of sibling rivalry. I just love being around her. She's one of my favourite persons in the world," she said.

"I like to call people who are not twins 'singletons'. Sometimes I don't know how they manage every day without a twin. I really cannot imagine life any other way," Henry-Gilpin added.

Being twins is more than a biological fact; it is a built-in support system that has proven invaluable to them in the demanding world of public health. Their days are long and unpredictable, often stretching far beyond standard working hours. Henry-Gilpin pointed out that in such an environment, having someone who understands the pressures without explanation is a rare advantage.

"We bounce things off each other all the time. You may not always have a structured approach to everything, but the other person might, and together, you're able to coordinate and put systems in place," she said.

Their journey into public health was shaped by very different experiences. For Henry- Gilpin, the turning point came during the Ebola crisis. At the time, she had her sights set on specialising in obstetrics and gynaecology, and had even been accepted into a programme.

"When the Ebola crisis came, I was so intrigued. When everybody was afraid and didn't want to go to the training, I was excited to go and respond," she said. That sense of purpose led her into public health in 2015, where she began working in quality assurance, helping to build programmes across multiple areas, including infection prevention and control, clinical effectiveness, and patient safety. Over time, she expanded into non-communicable disease prevention before eventually taking up her current role.

Henry's journey, by contrast, was marked by personal loss. Her original ambition was to become a paediatric emergency physician. She was already working in emergency medicine and had been accepted into a specialist programme. But everything changed after the death of a close family member - someone who had been treated in the very department where she worked.

"Every time I saw a patient with a similar condition, I couldn't function properly. It just kept coming back to me," she said. The emotional toll caused her to reconsider her path, and she gravitated towards a different approach to medicine, one focused on prevention rather than crisis response. That led her into public health, where she began working in surveillance and disaster management; she found her niche.

"I loved it. It's a fast-paced area that combined preventive health with emergency medicine," Henry said. Her career quickly advanced, taking her into regional roles in epidemiology and programme management, including oversight of HIV and surveillance systems. Eventually, she transitioned into parish-level leadership, where she now applies both clinical and administrative expertise in St Ann.

Faith remains central to how they interpret their journey. Both women speak of their paths as guided by God and shaped by experiences that, ultimately, led them to where they are today.

"I think the Lord saw that I needed her, and so He made me a twin," Henry-Gilpin beamed.