Avia Collinder, Outlook Writer 
Dr. Maynard McIntosh, athlete, ophthalmologist and landscaper, plans to excel at the World Masters Championship in Italy in September. - Ian Allen/Staff Photographer
For eye surgeon, Kingston-based ophthalmologist, Dr. Maynard McIntosh, 'hand, foot and eye coordination' are words which point to the precision which applies to pretty much everything he does.
And he does a lot.
At age 45, Dr. McIntosh, a 2004 Pan American Masters silver medallist in the 100 metres, a bronze medallist in the 200 metres and who collected gold in the 4X1 relay, is also president of the Jamaica Masters Association.
He is running, he says, better than he ever did before - 11.34 seconds on the 100 metres and 53 seconds in the 300 metres.
"This year I am running faster than ever before, partly attributable to the fact that I took off 10 pounds," he told Outlook.
Long, lean and looking younger than his years, we caught Dr. McIntosh stretching - doing warm-up exercises -at Stadium East in Kingston, where he trains every weekday morning.
Hopes to betterperformance
In September 2007 he hopes to better this performance in the World Masters athletics championships in Italy. The World Masters caters for men 40 and over and women 35 and over, there is no age limit, the categories are in five-year bands, starting with age group 40 to 44 for men and age group 35 to 39 for women. In the past, Jamaica has competed in the 100, 200, 400, 800 and 1500 metres, the hurdles, and the marathon in different age groups.
Added to his interest in athletics and ophthalmology is a passion for landscaping, which Dr. McIntosh currently indulges by creating imaginative barbecues and water features for residences in Kingston.
How does he do all of this? The key, he says, is the way in which he treats his body.
"I treat my body as a machine - properly fed and trained. I follow very strict rules - no alcohol, no smoking. I don't do nightlife. I have also decided to eat six small meals each day, which include fruit, fibre, supplements and water. I eat no fried foods. It's a very strict approach, but I have made it a lifestyle and I have seen the results. I have never felt better."
More focused
Dr. McIntosh's interest in physical health also facilitates his work as an ophthalmologist. "Doing track helps me. When doing track at this level you think clearer and you are more focused. Staying healthy helps you to be steady and coordinated."
Dr. McIntosh is one of the local pioneers in the use of phaco surgery, said to be the best accepted technique to remove cataracts now. "It gives a better long-term outcome. We also use foldable lenses for implants, which carry less side effects. The eye looks better over a period of time."
Eye surgery, he opines, is a discipline for the chosen few. He chose this area of medicine, he says, because it was a nine to five job which could allow him to do all the other things he wanted to achieve in life.
The 1980 Grace Kennedy scholar to the University of the West Indies medical school was also a top geography student, agricultural science and math student at Ardenne High School, who was deflected from doing agriculture by his teachers.
More than giving glasses
After completing medicine he chose ophthalmology which, he says, is "much more than giving glasses". Ophthalmology, he says, "was a good nine to five job. I also am a very hands-on person. The surgery involved is very delicate. You open, operate and then you are out again."
Mornings before his work on eyes begin, his day starts with the work-out programme at Stadium East. Then it is on to some landscaping. Next is the office at one of four medical centres across the island. The day might end with a session at Spartan Health Club in Kingston which he attends three days each week.
The medical doctor has created a life which he states was at no time in his life handed to him on plate. At every stage of his life he has come across challenges for which he has had to find novel solutions
His training in ophthalmology started at the University Hospital of the West Indies but instead of going to Kingston Public Hospital and then on to Edinburgh for the usual six-month programme, he chose the unconventional route of going directly to the very closed and coveted scene in London to qualify.
The studies went well, but he recalls that his focus was affected by his children's illness. Married early, his first son was born with Bilary atresia which is a a disorder in new-borns which destroys the bile ducts that carry bile from the liver to the intestines.
While he was preparing for examinations, his wife was in Pittsburgh staying with the boy while he had a liver transplant. This son was later to die at age 16.
His second son developed a myopathy (myopathy is a neuromuscular disease in which the muscle fibre's do not function for any one of many reasons, resulting in muscular weakness) when he was three years old.
Then, when Dr. McIntosh returned to the island there was no job awaiting him, he had been replacedin his former position. He decided to take the bull by the horns and do something, approaching FISH - the local eye clinic which provides largely charitable service for a clientele of eye patients - and offer to do eye surgery. Partnering with Trevor Myers, he eventually branched out into private practice creating Eyelite Optical.
The aim of the partners, Dr. McIntosh recalls was to provide the best in ophthalmology to locals both in Kingston and rural areas.
Dr. McIntosh was challenged to find novel means to improve rural eye services as well as expand his client base.
Eyelite gave five years of free service to the Lions Club of Clarendon, charging only a nominal fee to cover equipment and material costs.
The work was small but effective, he says, "because we did a lot of surgery including glaucoma cases." Portland and St. Mary were also under-served and the partners operated out of the 3-D organisation to help out. 3-D Projects, headquartered in Spanish Town, serves individuals with disabilities and stroke in rural Jamaica.
Skilled at multitasking, Dr. Maynard McIntosh retains his rural practices even while preparing for the world masters athletics championships and running a landscaping business.
He says, "I think there is always a solution (to difficulties in life). It is just a matter of reaching out and taking it. I am good at planning, good at problem solving. Overcoming the odds for me is just an approach to life."It was when he was past 30 that Dr. McIntosh discovered an extensive athletic movement called the World Masters Association. Locally, it was made up of a small group which he joined. At age 40 the ophthalmologist decided to give himself a 40th birthday gift with his first overseas track meet.
He signed up with Fitz Coleman, coach for the High Performance Training Centre He did not do badly, running 12.4 seconds which he said could have earned him a semi-final position.
In 2004, he did even better in the Pan American games, but when his progress began to level off, he began to design his own 'scientific approach" to training which includes proper nutrition.
"My approach is also to maintain a high power to weight ratio, getting stronger while the weight is going down, strengthening endurance and improving flexibility."
The doctor reveals, " I use Merlene Ottey as an inspiration."
His fitness also helps him to sometimes carry around his 21-year-old son, University of the West Indies science student Dwight, who is wheelchair bound. The young man loves to go to the movies and his father thinks nothing of lifting him up the stairs at Carib cinema when this is necessary.
He will continue running and honing his physical reflexes as long as he can. For others who may want to adapt his lifestyle, he suggests; "It's a gift to yourself. You only have one body."
