WHY MEDICINE?

               Dear diary,

Back in those days, when you ask any child ‘what do you want to be when you grow up?’ the reply is always doctor, lawyer, engineer, or banker. When I was young, my own reply has always been ‘I want to be a doctor’

Why?

At such a tender age, all I was concerned about was the prefix Dr. The only thing I wanted was that title ‘Dr’ added to my name. I just loved the idea and sound of it, ‘Dr Eva’. At that time, I thought everyone who had the prefix Dr in their name were actually doctors. I heard of people like Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, Dr Orji Uzor Kalu , Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, Dr Dora Akunyili, Dr Nelson Mandele, etc and I was amazed at how they were all popular figureheads and at the same time doctors which made me want to be like them when I grew up.

It wasn’t until I grew up that I got to discover that the prefix ‘Dr’ was also used for doctorate holders and not just medical doctors as I initially thought. I was disappointed at first but I couldn’t go back on my decision to be a doctor.

You might propose, why not just go ahead and study any course up to the highest level(PhD) and still get the prefix Dr attached to my name?

Well as of the time I entered senior secondary school, I was already in love with science subjects so I already knew what I wanted to be in the future would have to be science related. When the time to fill JAMB slip came, another bout of confusion set in. I didn’t know which particular science field to go into as I was excelling in all my science and general subjects, so I visited our guidance and counsellor unit in school. I explained to him that I was confused on what to study in university, so he gave me a form to fill, after that he asked me some questions and went through the form. He later told me that what he inferred was that I wanted to be in the health sector.

With that in mind, I started the elimination method. I knew nursing wasn’t an option cause I couldn’t see myself prancing around in a white gown (no offence to nurses out there, y’all are so great) and it didn’t go with my dream prefix. Optometry, hmmm! Yes it had the prefix but the thought of spending 6 whole years studying one aspect of the human anatomy, the human eye when I could use the same number of years to study the full human body and still specialise in eye if that was what I really wanted to do, didn’t go well with me. Medical laboratory science was another option I considered, I could see myself as a diagnostic doctor but why settle for less when I could actually be doing more. Choosing medicine and surgery left you with so many options, so many fields you could actually venture to.

So choosing medicine and surgery was a plus for me, I got my prefix and also actually do something I was passionate about.

Why medicine?

Generally, Medicine and surgery is a very prestigious course in Nigeria and it pays very well too. Every parent would be so proud to say ‘my child is a doctor’. After studying medicine, there is wide range of job options, you can choose to work in hospitals, research labs or even contribute to legal work to verify medical errors and defend patients’ rights.

But personally for me, having grown past the need for the prefix Dr to be attached to my name, I get to make a real difference to peoples’ lives, helping them alleviate pain and sufferings, helping them recover and start living again. Seeing that joy in a patients face, when you share good news with them. There is this fulfilment that comes with helping people out. Also you get to work with other people, discovering and learning new things. Moreover, the human body is so fascinating, why won’t I want to discover all there is to know about our organs, tissues and how it functions?

Medicine is not easy, it is a big financial and time investment, but the benefits are definitely worth it. If you’re passionate about science, healthcare and helping people, then medicine and health is definitely for you.

Medicine makes you and your patient feel better.