This is what it means to be a young Kenyan doctor

Stella Kisoi, 27, is a doctor at Mbagathi District Hospital in Nairobi. As glamorous as that may sound, her job is no walk in the park.

While medicine may be the career of choice that parents push their children into pursuing for the status and the perks, Kisoi knows it is not that easy. Not at all!

Kenya produces only about 600 doctors per year studying both locally and internationally. Many enrol but few make it to the end without dropping out or retaking classes. Yet, Kisoi made it through a five-year crash programme on a scholarship, sat for her finals three weeks after giving birth  and passed her exams.

Today the certified Medical Officer (MO) operates in one of the harshest health sectors in the country, juggling a demanding medical career with raising a young family.

“When I was eight, my father asked me what I wanted to be. My initial idea was to be a nun, but when he pushed me, I said a doctor. I don’t know why I said it, and I didn’t know how I was going to do it but I believed,” she recollects.

Her father was a teacher in Mwingi and her mother a small scale farmer. They did not have much, just faith that God would make a way.  Although her parents did not discourage her, they nurtured her childhood dream even though they knew very well that they could never afford fees for medical school.

After sitting her Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) in 2002 in Nzawa Primary School in Mwingi, Kisoi proceeded to Precious Blood Kilungu.

In her Kenya Certificate for Secondary Education (2006), the super achiever did really well; she was the best in her district. This qualified her for a university sponsorship supported by Equity Bank that picks the best performing students in every district.

Under the programme, she worked for the bank for two years as she awaited placement in a public university.

CULTURE SHOCK

“My parents were really excited because I was going to become the first doctor from our village, but did not know how the system works. I had to work for two years as I waited for university placement and then go through five years of medical school,” she says.

At the end of her tenure, the bank gave her a choice, to continue working or go to campus to pursue a career of her choice. She enrolled at the University of Nairobi and there began a long and grueling journey of becoming a doctor.

“Campus was a culture shock for me, I actually don’t like reading but I was forced to adapt. It was the first time I was away from home and it was tough,” says Kisoi.

Dissecting a corpse is a vital rite of passage that determines if one has  the stomach for medical school. Like many in her shoes, the experience was grueling.

At first, the formalin used to preserve the cadavers would make her dizzy and she would sometimes throw up. With time, she learnt that medical school was built for the tough and daring; a place of unforgiving pass marks where few survive.

To make it through, Kisoi took it a step at a time and depended on her unwavering faith to pull through. She intimates that medical school students rarely pass with 100 per cent or even 80 per cent.

“You are happy to just make the pass grade. I did a crash programme that took me five years. We only took one long break in first year followed by four years of hardcore study with only two weeks vacation each year,” she explains.

Though many in her generation postpone marriage and settling down, Kisoi is determined to have it all. For her, family is everything, thus she wanted to settle down as soon as possible.

In her final year in school, she got married and was soon expecting her first born even as she prepared for her exam.

“Female doctors have a hard life, there is never really a good time to have kids. Regardless of the level you are in, it is a life of constant study, and long hours. I wanted to get an early start, so I just took things head on. My husband has really supportive. I could not have made it without him,” she says.

In 2013 after successfully graduating from medical school, Kisoi got a first hand experience of what it really means to be a medical practitioner in Kenya. As per the Kenyan system, medical students have a mandatory one-year paid medical internship before they are licensed to practice as general practitioners.

Ideally, interns are not supposed to handle any heavy work but with an understaffed and underequipped health sector, a medical internship is baptism by fire.

The Kenyan Health sector is riddled with challenges such as poor human resource management, low salaries, disgruntled workers, poor working conditions, understaffing, and lack of funds. Yet in these harsh working condition,  Kisoi is living her dream doing what she loves.

QUICKFIRE

Do all doctors have a bad handwriting?

Yes they do, at least most of us. I am left handed but my handwriting is not so bad. It’s legible.

What was your hardest day at work?

I lost three babies in one night during my internship, it was so traumatising. As a mother, I just couldn’t face the mothers. After that experience I don’t think I can be a pediatrician. I can handle grownups in pain but can’t stand the sight of a sick child.

When you are on internship, they put you on call all night, often all on your own.

On a good night, you are sitting around in a cold waiting room as mosquitoes feast on you, but sometimes you can get 10 emergencies all at once and you don’t even have time to call for help.

Are there many doctors your age?

Well, we are not many but the number is growing fast. Young medical officers are becoming the new normal. In the past, medical school intake was low and only few students finish without repeating.

Some people take even seven to 10 years to finish school, while others have their internships extended due to failures, so they enter the job market in their early to mid 30’s.

However, training facilities within Kenya have recently increased and we also have more foreign-trained Kenyans coming back to practice in Kenya.

Why is medicine so hard to study?

There is so much to study, it is a really wide field and sometimes you can study for one area and the exam covers another. It takes much longer to study so your peers will finish campus and start working while you are still toiling with books. The biology we study in high school also does not begin to prepare you for the real thing. We have to start from scratch in first year.

Is it worth all the hustle?

Yes, I love my job. I get to interact with so many people and it’s satisfying to go home knowing that you helped someone today. I am really an outgoing person, I can’t stay a whole day without talking to people, so I fit right in.

What kind of medicine do you practice?

Currently, I do internal medicine. I was placed in infectious diseases when I was posted but sometimes I also work in the casualty department. In Kenya, before specialising, you have to start with internal medicine where you deal with communicable and non-communicable diseases that are not surgical cases. However, I have several areas of interest that include dermatology (diagnosis and treatment of  diseases that affect the skin, hair and nails) and oncology (a specialisation that deals with the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer)

Why cancer, what triggered the interest?

It is a growing concern in Kenya, and I just want to be able help people. Cancer is currently the third leading cause of death in Kenya and it does not discriminate age or gender. We all have to work together to improve early detection by educating ourselves and regular screening. Regular doctors also need cancer training to be able to detect the killer disease at an early stage. I am scheduled to present a case at the upcoming Kenya International Cancer Conference in Kisumu that brings together doctors from all over the world. As a young female doctor, it means a lot to be given such a platform. 

Who do you look up to?

Dr Catherine Nyongesa from the Texas Cancer Center here in Kenya. She was the first female radiation oncologist in Kenya and she really takes her time to mentor upcoming doctors like me.

There are many cases of doctor negligence in the news. Do Kenyan doctors really care about their patients, or is it all about the money?

We have a few bad doctors that I would never even recommend to my patients, but we cannot condemn a whole group based on a few. We are people too, we can’t just stand around and watch another human being die. Most doctors in Kenya are making the best of a very difficult situation but we also get frustrated.

So what is the next step for you?

Right now, am a Medical Officer, I have to work for the government for at least three years to qualify for a masters scholarship. The masters take three to five years at a point you specialise in a certain field. After that, you have to work for at least two years in your area of specialisation before you are board-certified as a consultant in your area. 

What would you advice all those who dream of becoming doctors?

If it is really your dream, go for it but know it is a calling. If you are looking for money, you are in the wrong career. Doctors do not really earn that much until later on in their careers.

 If you are in it for the cash, you will not survive that long. The only people who really make a lot of money are those who own hospitals; you will not become an overnight millionaire practicing medicine.