Dr. Millicent Comrie, a highly respected obstetrician and gynecologist who was born in Jamaica, has been recognized for her contributions to American life by the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Dr. Comrie is the director of the Brooklyn Heights Women’s Health Center, Maimonides Medical Center in New York. She is the only person born in Jamaica to be honor by the Carnegie Corporation in 2021.
Dr. Comrie was a student at Half Way Tree Primary School and Ardenne High School prior to emigrating to the United States. She is the sister of Dr. Fenton Ferguson, a dental surgeon and former Cabinet Minister in Jamaica.
Dr. Comrie faced challenges in the pursuit of her medical career. According to Carnegie, she “once got a failing grade in a surgery class because she was told that she ‘does not speak English.’ Dr. Comrie was fluent in English but spoke with a Jamaican accent. She also speaks German and Spanish. She asked for a new professor. In the second year of medical school, Dr. Comrie went into labor with her daughter as she was studying for her final exam; she brought the exam to the hospital with her.
A pioneer in the treatment of uterine fibroids, Dr. Comrie is a leader in women’s health in New York. As the director and founder of the Brooklyn Heights Women’s Health Center at Maimonides Medical Center, she has helped many women avoid having hysterectomies and has been described as a “preserver of fertility in Black women.” She believes in treating every patient as if they were a member of her family. She believes in listening to her patients and taking the time to counsel them.
Dr. Comrie is a founding board member of the nonprofit Red Hook initiative, which is committed to “creating change from within” for more than 6,500 residents of the historically under-resourced Red Hook public housing community in Brooklyn.
Dr. Comrie is rated among the top 100 obstetrics and gynecology professionals in New York. She has received numerous awards for her work and service, the Marcus Garvey Award for Community Service, the Leader in Medicine Award from the Society of Foreign Consuls, and the Order of Distinction from the Government of Jamaica.
In an interview with the Brooklyn Daily Eagle newspaper, Dr. Comrie said her desire to improve women’s health is the driving force behind her work. “Education is a strong weapon in the hands of patients, surgeons and other healthcare professionals,” she added.
