Professor John A. S. Hall, KSt J, FRCPE.

Born in rural Jamaica in the 1920s, John Ambrose Samuel Hall completed his school education on the island at Kingston College. An exceptional student, he was awarded a scholarship to study medicine at King’s College London and Charing Cross Hospital Medical School, graduating  MB,BS in 1951. Always intending to work in his native Jamaica and dedicated to serving its people, he worked initially in a number of Medical Officer posts on the island at Port Maria and Kingston Public Hospitals as well as on the Turks & Caicos  Islands. He then undertook additional study in the UK at the Institute of Neurology, Queen’s Square, London during a residency with a sub specialty in neurology, and obtained the MRCP (Edin) in 1959. 

In 1960 he was appointed a consultant physician at the Kingston Public Hospital and remained there for two and a half decades, providing the highest level of clinical care to patients. In 1963, having served a Fellowship in clinical neurology at the University of Pennsylvania, he established the first neurology clinic at his hospital which would do much to transform the quality of neurological care for patients across the region. In 1964 he became a Member of the American Academy of Neurology. His abilities were recognised further by the local health authorities when he became Chairman of the Department of Medicine at Kingston Public Hospital in 1965, a position he would hold with great distinction for over a decade. Later in his career he worked in private practice at Kingston’s Medical Associates Hospital until his retirement. 

He lectured and published on a broad range of neurological subjects, drawing attention to the prevalence of these conditions In Jamaica. He also made important contributions to medical education and ethics. He took a special interest in the use of ganja (Cannabis sativa) smoking in Jamaica and became deeply interested in neurological aspects of antisocial behaviour. He  was invited to give testimony on this subject to the 93rd Congress of the United States in May 1974 and presented papers on it internationally. 

John Hall was also an accomplished medical educator who inspired generations of doctors. He lectured at the University of the West Indies from 1965 for many years. In 1972 he was a visiting Assistant Professor of Clinical Neurology at Columbia Presbyterian Medical School, New York City. His desire to mentor junior medical colleagues stayed with him all through his career and indeed after retirement, including during his Presidency of the Medical Association of Jamaica from 2003 to 2005 and chairmanship of the Jamaica Medical Council between 2011 and 2019. His colleagues greatly respected  and appreciated his wisdom and counsel. 

As John Hall’s reputation grew, so too did the awards and honours he received, both from the international medical and civic worlds. He served as an international adviser for the RCPE  for 17 years, and gained Fellowships from the RCP London, the  American College of Physicians, and other US and UK national organisations. He received the Centenary Medal of the Institute of Jamaica for services to medicine in 1979 and the same year was appointed Commander of the Venerable Order of St John of Jerusalem; twenty years later he would become a Knight of Grace in the Order in further recognition of his outstanding contribution to the charity over many decades. The government of Jamaica made him first a Commander of the Order of Distinction and later a recipient of the prestigious Order of Jamaica. These national Jamaican awards in particular delighted John Hall, as did a Nigerian chieftaincy conferred on him during a visit to Nigeria in 2017. 

Colleagues describe John Hall as a patriotic man who loved Jamaica, an intensely loyal friend, and someone completely dedicated to his service as a doctor who elevated the status of medicine in Jamaica on an international basis. He had a love of reading and of photography and was deeply involved in his local community, latterly supporting his former schools as a governor. Remembered also for his smart and stylish dress sense- he would typically wear a well-starched white shirt and bow tie on hospital rounds. He had a warmth, spirit and compassion that endeared him to people of all ages and backgrounds. 

He enjoyed a happy family life and was predeceased by his wife Alison in 2022. He is survived by his four children, John, Peter, Richard and Penelope and by seven grandchildren. 

Douglas Pattullo

Anthony Seaton