joy comes in the morning
It was during my junior clerkship year that I came face to face with a sad side of medicine, an experience that changed me for the better. It was back in 2020. I was more than excited to put the knowledge I had acquired in my junior years of study to work. We had just finished our morning ward rounds, and I decided to help with various hospital procedures. I happened to have begun my rotations with paediatrics, specifically paediatric oncology.
Just as I was getting into the procedure room, I heard a cry for help from one of the mothers. I was confused and stood fixed to the ground as medical personnel rushed to the room the mother had called from. It was after the buzz of activities died down that I found out that it was one of the patients I had clerked and presented during the rounds who was no more. It stung me to my core because the little girl was a precious baby, with the mother having taken nine years trying to conceive. She had been found to have nephroblastoma that affected her left kidney, and on imaging, it was found that she had no kidney on the right.
As her tiny body struggled under the weight of the malady, I couldn’t help but notice how affected the mother was. I got caught up in the sadness of the situation, and for a while after the event, I struggled with the idea of why a good God would allow such a thing to happen. It was one of the events that shook my faith in Christ. But I thank God for my mentors who walked with me through it and helped me come out stronger.
In Kenya, a career in medicine is one of the few routes to relative comfort and success. It, therefore, did not come as a surprise to my family when I was picked to pursue Medicine and Surgery at Moi University after excelling in my high school exams. Little did I know that it would not only be a journey to career success but also a period in which I would seek to know God more.
The programme takes a total of six years to complete, but that is not always the case. To my frustration, I have had to stay in school because of multiple industrial actions that have paralysed clinical practice. 1 Issues that lead to this include poor pay, poor working environments, and unemployment. Inadequate resources have had an impact not only on qualified personnel but also on medical students. While it is relatively possible to take care of tuition fees with the government sponsorship program in place, purchasing study materials as well as food and accommodation on top of this can be a tall order for many. This, coupled with how rigorous the programme is at times, is too much to handle. Some of my classmates have had to defer, and others have dropped out completely.
The tough economic times have hit the rest of the population just as hard. At times, there are patients who have to fundraise to foot their hospital bills. Although a national insurance fund exists, some families live from hand to mouth and would rather spend their limited money on food than contribute to it. This works well until a family member falls sick or is involved in an accident. Even though well-wishers help out and some hospitals even waive the bills, there is always a similar case to respond to as soon as one is dealt with.
Doctors were recently involved in a national strike that ran for 56 days. This brought clinical rotations to a standstill, prolonging the stay of medical students in school. It was a truly distressing time, with some entering their eighth year in medical school. To make it worse, the main reason for the strike was the delayed posting of intern doctors, a matter which remains unresolved. In fact, the Ministry of Health has proposed to reduce the pay of these doctors by 91 per cent. As things stand, many graduates have not been in school for more than six months and are waiting to be posted to do their internships.
For medical students, this is a grim picture of their future, and some have resorted to ‘drinking away the pain.’ As a Christian student though, the story is different. I have learnt to trust more in the Lord. The encouragement has been that God has sustained me so far, 2 and he will not stop because times are changing. The Christian Union has been a real pillar, with programs that keep one hopeful and rooted in Christ. In addition to that, we have a mentorship program through the Christian Medical Fellowship. This allows individuals to walk with qualified professionals who are born again and offer much-needed guidance in turbulent times.
The Christian Union has also accorded me an opportunity to grow my talents and use them to honour God. It is through the fellowship that I have grown to not only play drums but also the guitar in church. This brings me so much joy since it is a way to fully focus on the Lord and seek fellowship with him. There I find laughter, strong friendship, and warmth that continues to draw more people to Christ in the fellowship.
It has been four years since I lost the young patient to nephroblastoma. It is two years more than I ought to have spent in school. More time that I have had to fully depend on my parents for tuition fees and sustenance. Two more years of exams and traumatising experiences in the hospitals with some mean consultants. Yet it has also been two years of walking in a warm fellowship of Christians, two more years of encouraging patients in the wards with the word of God. Two more years of interacting with wonderful Christian mentors and two more years of taking my relationship deeper with the Lord.
It is six months before I sit my last exams in medical school, and I am excited. Inasmuch as there is no assurance of a timely posting for me as an intern, and no guarantee of pay for the same, I trust that my God will keep sustaining me. At times, I find myself worried about the future, and I let my mind drift to the long period I have stayed in medical school. Somehow, I end up glorifying God just for how good he has been to me all this time. I have learnt to encourage myself with Psalm 30:5, that joy comes in the morning. So, I can’t wait to be used of the Lord even as I make this step of my career.
