Oncology program
After completing my high school education, I joined Maseno University, one of the finest Kenyan Universities, as a pioneering student in the School Of Medicine having passed my final KCSE examination with flying colors. Despite the many obstacles I faced in my academic and social life as I grew up, I managed to achieve my lifelong dream of being a doctor. I am the first person in my family to have a university degree and in my community to be a doctor. Am glad to have broken the ceiling that used to exists before. My mother is a business lady and my father a plumber. Though they had no university degrees, my parents inculcated in me the spirit of hard work, perseverance and good moral values. I believe that everyone have a potential to achieve their dreams and aspiration, what one need is to remain focus and a stimulating environment. I developed my interest in oncology in my penultimate year of medical school when I undertook a four week internship in the specialty. This was part of my elective program at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital’s Chandaria Cancer and Chronic Disease Center that was about a year old at the time. The facility funded by the government of Kenya and Chandaria foundation brought cancer treatment services closer to the local community. Initially, cancer patients had to travel over 320 km away in Kenya’s capital city. I was among the first individual to directly observe the impact the facility had on the community. Patients with both benign and malignant conditions were able to benefit from the state-of-the-art curative management facilities installed at the center. Am in love with this specialty.
My decision to apply for Alexander University masters in oncology program is in line with my growing interest in the specialty. Pursuing this program at the university will allow me to make a valuable contribution to the improvement of cancer treatment in my home country and cancer-related research, particularly hematological malignancies. Last year, as I did my medical internship at Kisumu County Referral Hospital, I noted with concern, a significant change in pattern of diseases I managed every day. The level of lifestyle and non-communicable diseases like cancer, diabetics, and hypertension were slowly taking a bigger share of the cases I managed every day. Though the hospital lacked the necessary state of the art infrastructure to manage cancer cases, I was able to accurately diagnose the cases and referred them appropriately. After completing my internship and acquiring my licensee, I applied for a job at Alexander Cancer and Palliative care hospital, Eldoret, where is was able to work for five months under mentorship of great consultant specialists in medical oncology, radiological oncology and nuclear medicine. Thus, I was able to participate actively in administering the most advanced therapies available to cancer patients. We held regular round table discussions on management of various cancer cases based on genetics, molecular therapy, statistics, molecular pathways, protocols and their targets therapies. Patients remained the key focus of all our discussions. Their concerns and emotional well-being were addressed to the best of our abilities. The most difficult part of the job was pronouncing death of patients with metastatic terminal malignancies to their families as a covering doctor on night duty. Many a time this happened without a pre-existing doctor-patient relationship. I helped comfort them and provided them with all the assistance they needed. The gratitude expressed by the families proved to be the most satisfying moment of my career as a doctor. Cancer medicine is the fastest growing field of medicine, and as I learnt during my practice at the Cancer Hospital, oncology cures, and not just palliate.
I believe that these program will forms a solid foundation for my career in the field of oncology. I am a team player and recognize the role different specialists play in the management of cancer. I value and respect the contribution of others. Aside from this, this program will be instrumental in helping me conduct or contribute positively in cancer medicine related research, help in cancer policy formulation, and management. The skill gained will also go towards the promotion of cancer prevention programs in Kenya. This is very important due to the fact that the population of Kenya and other developing nations is rising rapidly. This will starts through the proper mapping of cancer cases that affects Kenyans in different regions of the country and identification of any changes in disease pattern in the country. The skills gained will aid in the analysis and investigation of various malignancies and identify their root causes so as to help in the development of proper policies for their prevention and control. In addition, the skills will aid in the creation of cancer management health protocols to guide health workers in the management of various cancer cases via the provision of evidence-based medicine.
This field will allow me to make a difference in Kenya even as the country strive to address emerging and current complex health issues as part of Kenya government Big Four Agenda on Universal Health Care and Vision 2030 Strategic Plan. With that said, there is still much more effort that is needed to address issues of cancer in Kenya, even as the government strives to establish cancer management centers in different regions in the country. Having this qualification will allow me to assume a position of leadership and be the key driver of cancer management in Kenya and elsewhere in the world. The university is renowned globally for offering the best quality of higher education in medicine, and I will be particularly grateful if accorded this opportunity.
In the long run, I plan to also serve my country as a don in the field of oncology in Kenyan universities, as an academic research oncologist and as well as a consultant with the WHO. This will help spread the knowledge I have gained to future generations of doctors. I believe Alexander University has a well-administered and well-structured oncology program and experts that love to care and give their all to their patients.
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