When the left and right brains meet

Careers

The real struggle for most us in the conversation was how to be more supportive and less like our parents were when we were choosing careers.

Photo credit: Fotosearch

What you need to know:

  • Dr Graham Meme combines both medicine and his love for flying to run a flying doctor service.
  • Dr Yusuf Dawood is adored by his patients for the surgeon he is but is also loved for his writing every Sunday.
  • Dr Njoki Ngumi has done it all, from delivering babies in Pumwani Maternity Hospital, to gracing the stage as a talented performer in the arts.

As the excitement of the national examination results dies down, many parents are now dealing with the reality of the future of their children.

In some homes, both parents and children are on the same page regarding career options. But, many are grappling with the limited options. Even worse, many have no idea what path the courses offered in higher education institutions lead to.

This sparked a conversation among colleagues recently when one of us was seeking advice on her daughter’s future. She is eligible to pursue any course: medicine, engineering, law, architecture or even business studies but she prefers creative arts.

The real struggle for most us in the conversation was how to be more supportive and less like our parents were when we were choosing careers.

And I wondered, why not have it all? Why can’t our children sit astride multiple professions and excel? It is possible to have a meeting of the left brain and the right brain all in our person, with amazing results. We need to have a mind shift in this present day if we are to nudge the future generations to break the glass ceiling.

If I may speak for my profession, we have amazing examples of doctors who have had their cake and are eating it with a big spoon. Dr Graham Meme put medicine on hold to pursue his love for flying and now he combines both backgrounds to run a flying doctor service.

Dr Yusuf Dawood is adored by his patients for the amazing surgeon he is but there is a whole world that reveres him for serving them amazing portions of his writing every Sunday for decades.

Dr Njoki Ngumi has done it all, from delivering babies in Pumwani Maternity Hospital, to gracing the stage as a talented performer in the arts.

Teachers strike

Recently, over a virtual cup of coffee, I was subtly reminded of this by Dr Stanley Aruyaru, who was destined to be a mechanic. Upon completion of his basic education, his dad had his future all planned out. He was going to enroll in the village polytechnic, take a driving course and study mechanics.

Within his sphere, the old man was satisfied that Stanley’s future was already secure.

But the village had other ideas. The people of Lailuba in Muthaara, Tigania East had seen the potential in Stanley and had made up their mind. They categorically told Mr M’Aruyaru that he would not deny the village its first doctor. The young man was going to high school.

Two decades later, the village not only has its doctor but an amazing surgeon with a heart of gold. As a child, did Stanley want to be a doctor? He does remember wanting to be the president at 10 but he knew nothing about medicine.

High school did not do much to enlighten him. Being in school at a time when teachers’ strikes were rife and there was no assurance that he would finish high school, his teachers were determined that St Kizito would send its first student to medical school.

The teachers did not disappoint and Moi University was the recipient of their diligence. Dr Aruyaru has been privileged enough to see the world his father could not fathom. He did his internship at the now Nyeri County Referral Hospital before a short stint in Kilgoris.

Pay his debt

He was a successful applicant in the extremely competitive residency programme at the Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH), beating more than 80 applicants.

Training in AKUH provided Dr Aruyaru with amazing experiences in the world of surgery. The all-rounded programme exposed him to intricate procedures that horned his skills into a first class surgeon. He had no idea how important this was going to be in future.

His first work station after training was in Consolata Mission Hospital in Nyeri. Currently, he is in St Teresa’s Hospital in Meru. He has gone full circle and he is back home, serving the community that believed in him all those years! He is happily paying his debt. He is the chief medical director of the hospital, bringing in more than his surgical skills to the table.

What then, is a surgeon doing hosting a book launch? Well, Dr Dawood may have inspired many of us it seems. But Dr Aruyaru gently reminds me that for us to go to the science courses, we were still required to have a perfect command of language.

It means that our creative side is lurking in there somewhere and we are free to draw up on it and excel. His book, The Chronicles of a Village Surgeon, is a beautiful collection of stories reflecting his journey in practice.

When does a busy surgeon serving the upper eastern and northern region of Kenya and juggling the management of a busy mission hospital find time to write? Well, he has become adept at maximising the use of his operating theatre “dead time”.

There is plenty of time in between surgeries when we sit around waiting for the team to set up for the next surgery. Dr Aruyaru has learnt to use this time to pen down notes that later leads to a new story.

Dear struggling parent out there, the world has no limits for your offspring. They can be anything they want to be. But even better, they can be everything they aspire for!