Medical Students

Salustiano Fanduiz, who was born to Afro-Caribbean parents in the Dominican Republic, learned English reading Longfellow’s poetry. He learned of the Medical School of Maine through a friendship with a Brunswick native who had moved to Santo Domingo in 1889. While at the Medical School, Fanduiz trained under Dr. Alfred Mitchell, Class of 1859, and wrote his medical dissertation on Tubercular Meningitis. After graduating in 1892, Fanduiz spent seven years providing medical assistance to Brunswick residents, particularly the indigent. He returned to the Dominican Republic in 1899, where he became a vocal political critic; his political affiliations led to his arrest in 1901 and a three-year prison sentence. Fanduiz would later join forces with the U.S. military in 1916 to begin public health initiatives and his highly praised work on malaria prevention in San Pedro de Macorís.

Adapted from research by Catherine Cyr, Bowdoin Class of 2017, on behalf of the Pejepscot History Center.