Dundee Afro-Caribbean Medical Society

Introducing Dr Kayode Oki🩺

“I found medical school difficult but not hard. The content itself is not insurmountable, however, all the hoops you have to jump through is a lot. It’s taught me a lot about myself, what I can handle and what is important to me. I found the different obstacles difficult to deal with. It’s tough explaining to senior people why different policies they have in place might be discriminatory. However I’ve managed to curate an amazing network of people who I consider to be friends and allies. I’ve got so many opportunities to work with amazing organisations such as the BMA and royal colleges. All of these came about by me just being myself and available and I’m enjoying the ride. As for the future, honestly I’m not too sure what I hope to do. I keep on changing my mind! At the moment, I’m most interested in surgery or radiology.

I got through by remembering, most people will fail some sort of exam in their career. Medicine is a marathon not a sprint. It is much better to do a little everyday and just ensure you are keeping all the different plates spinning.”

Congratulations 👏🏾

Dr Moonga Hamukoma MBChB BMSc (Honours)🩺

“I chose medicine because I wanted a career that allowed me to combine my passion for people and science. Medicine was the best degree that I saw that did this for me. It has been an incredible six years that have been rewarding (experiences I would never have completed anywhere) and challenging. My favourite thing about this journey is witnessing significant moments in - patients’ lives - such as births and the end of life. Another highlight has been the fantastic people at medical school I have met.”

Congratulations 👏🏾

It’s time to celebrate our newest doctors in the house🎉 First we have Dr Belinda Adupong MBChB BMSc🩺

“Medicine was definitely a challenge; from all-nighters in the library to trying not to pass out when scrubbed in theatre, but the highs always make the lows worth it. For me these included moments like my first time seeing a live birth, assisting in some cool procedures, and some patients I’ll never forget. Yet, the greatest thing I gained in medical school were the most amazing friends I could ever ask for. Friends that cry in the library together, stay together.

My biggest motivation getting me through these last 6 years was to get to a place where I can help and impact people who look like me, people who may be vulnerable or less fortunate, and inspire young black girls to do the same. I’m not sure what the future may bring but I'm ready for what's ahead, and I have faith that God will lead me to the right place at the right time.”

Congratulations 👏🏾

As black history month comes to an end, we turn our attention to the future. There are some great resources in the final week’s edition. In particular, for a view of racism in medicine, have a look at the first resource - Black and Blue. The other great resources can be seen by swiping and using the link below (link also in bio).

https://resourcelists.dundee.ac.uk/leganto/readinglist/lists/20762412890002991?institute=44DUN_INST&auth=SAML

In the this week’s edition we bring the focus on lived experiences. For those that prefer a good book and humour, Born a Crime by Trevor Noah is a delightful read. For those that prefer to sit back and watch a good documentary, Black is the new black by the BBC will open our eyes to the experiences prominent black figures in science, entertainment, business, politics and other industries. The link to the resource list can be found below and in our bio.

https://resourcelists.dundee.ac.uk/leganto/public/44DUN_INST/lists/20762412890002991?auth=SAML

As we continue through black history month, we have now published week 2 of our resource list.
The theme for this week is:

Relating: Putting History into context

Please follow the link below to view the insightful materials for this week. Swipe to have a look at what is included➡️We especially recommend watching the BBC documentary Black and Scottish featured at the end of the list.

https://resourcelists.dundee.ac.uk/leganto/public/44DUN_INST/lists/20762412890002991?auth=SAML
(link also in bio)

The month of October is here already, and thus marking the beginning of Black History Month! This month, we want to celebrate black artists, elevate black voices and learn invaluable lessons from black history. It is imperative that we don’t allow this month to go past without taking time to properly educate ourselves on the history of Black people. To help us do that, we have teamed up with to collate a list of resources that will allow us properly to engage with relevant topics and issues. For each week of this month, we have designated a theme and we will release a list of different resources in accordance with our theme.

The theme for this week is:

Reporting: The historical perspective of Black People.

Swipe to see the content featured this week 👉

The week 1 content can be found at the following link (link can also be found in bio):

https://resourcelists.dundee.ac.uk/leganto/public/44DUN_INST/lists/20762412890002991?auth=SAML

At the end of the month, a full reading list will be sent out for further reading.

We hope you are able to fully immerse yourself in the richness of the content that is provided.

Congratulations to the 5th year medical students who have finished their final set of exams and are due to graduate! We wish you all the best for your future careers!

Join us on Wednesday 7th April at 1700 for our online event ‘Lessons in Cultural Intelligence from African Doctors’.

In this collaborative event with Dundee University Global Medics, we will be hosting four African doctors from a range of specialties, ranging from Obstetrics and Gynaecology to Psychiatry. They will be discussing their experiences and important learning points from the different cultures and countries they have practiced in, relating to their specific field of work.

The sign-up sheet for the event will be uploaded soon, along with more information on each of the speakers

DACMS has marked world mental health day with a check in with first year students. It was great to have an open chat with peers about all things big small, academic and non academic.

If any students require support at any time, they can come and chat to older peers at DCAMS. Alternatively, the outstanding academic mentors at the University are here to help. Dental students can email Samantha Muir at [email protected] and medical students can talk with the academic mentor team led by Rob Jarvis [email protected]

Thank you for joining DACMS to celebrate the successes of various individuals of African and Caribbean descent!

Do not let this be the end of your journey in educating yourself on the diverse history, culture and influence of Black people. We are mathematicians,F1 drivers, tennis players, politicians, authors, playwrights, musicians, composers, dancers, ballerinas, artists, chefs, journalists, activists, environmentalists, astronauts, leaders, magicians, inventors, entrepreneurs, billionaires and on and on the list goes. Black History is all around you, so open up and explore!

The final healthcare professional we reveal to you is Dr Martin Wanendeya, a dental specialist with a focus on dental implants. Currently, he leads the Ten Implant Centre Team, which won Best Referral Practice and Practice of the Year in 2017 at the Private Dentistry Awards.

Dr Wanendeya obtained his first training in General Dentistry at Bristol University, and whilst maintaining a fulltime role, he completed a year long training programme in advanced cosmetic and restorative dentistry. He was then accepted onto the Implant Dentistry course at the prestigious Royal College of Surgeons and was one of a select few from his cohort to be awarded this at the advanced level. He was subsequently invited to be a tutor there and mentoring other dentists on implant surgery. Although many dentists place implants, few dentists have trained to this level, highlighting the significance of his education.

As well as being a member and tutor at the Royal College of Surgeons, Dr Wanendeya, is a member of the Association of Dental Implantology, the International Team in Implantology and the British Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry and the British Dental Association. He is also a mentor for the Association of Dental Implantology, a study club director for the International Team in Implantology and teachers on the Implant Restoration Course. Additionally, he regularly lectures in the UK and internationally on Implant Dentistry.

The high-quality implant work of Dr Martin Wanendeya has led him to be the proud winner of two categories at the 2016 Aesthetic Dentistry Awards.

Dr Diana Esther Wangari is currently completing an Master of Business Administration at Oxford University through the Skoll Scholarship for social entrepreneurs which funds only one student from each continent per year. The slogan, “The Mission is simple: More Female CEOs”, define her life purpose.

In 2018, she co-founded and lead Checkups Medical Centre in Kenya. These facilities use in-house developed technology, iSikCure, to provide access to rapid diagnosis, consultation, and distribution of medication to urban and rural areas. Under her direction, Checkups grew rapidly with projected revenue of over $1 million by its first year.

Whilst studying Medicine at the University of Nairobi, Dr Diana realised that enormous systemic issues made it extremely difficult to work within the Kenyan healthcare system. With an interest in journalism, foraged through various writing experiences to generate extra income, Dr Diana decided to start writing more on public health and looked for more opportunities to learn more about the discipline. This led to her involvement in a journalist-in-residency programme which allowed her to go to Belgium and examine how to communicate public health challenges in the Global South more effectively. She also had the opportunity to work on the ground in Liberia and Sierra Leone during the Ebola outbreak of 2014. In collaboration with a team of people from the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, Dr Diana was able to develop a medica communication tool for the Ebola outbreak which went on to be used by the World Federation of Science Journalists. She eventually returned to Kenya to finish her medical degree, and later concluded that while she wanted to work in the healthcare ecosystem, she did not want to practice medicine in the traditional sense.

For her work in healthcare business and journalism, Dr Diana has been recognised as Forbes30 under 30 Africa 2019 and David Astor Journalism Award Finalist. Her organisation(s) have also received international accolades at the UNDP Social Good Summit, United Nations General Assembly, VivaTech and GetIntheRing. This year, she received the Rare Rising Star Award marking her as one of the

Career excellence is achieved through everyday endeavours and no more so is this exemplified than by Peninsula Dentist Dr Yewande Oduwole.

Earlier this year, FGDP (UK) Student Member Yewande Oduwole was the winner of the first Nik Pandya Dental Student of the Year Award which highlights the exceptional achievements of Black Dental School Students. Her passion for oral health and dentistry has been demonstrated in various activities including mentoring prospective dental students, organising career development lectures, and delivering oral health advice online.

Achieving this award also requires a high level of clinical skills, knowledge, and examination success; all of which are represented by Yewande who received the grade of excellent in competency in extractions after carrying out over 20 during a recent elective in Ghana.

This evening, you can hear Yewande and others in the live webinar “Mind the gap - a dental perspective”. Take the inspiration of others and begin to applying it to your life today!

Join the conversation this Thursday!

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83860855449?pwd=MW5WTjRXK3RXLzdhMWVubEdRTGpCZz09

Godwin Godfrey is from the small town of Moshi, in the foothills of Kilimanjaro and Tanzania’s only children’s heart surgeon. He spent 5 years training in Holon, Israel at Save a Child’s Heart (SACH) before returning to Tanzania where he works in the nation’s largest teaching hospital. The challenges he grapples with include inconsistent electricity, lack of equipment and a shortage of trained medics, but as he says, “Somebody has to do something – and that is one of the reasons I came back.”.

Dr Betty Gikonyo is a Kenyan paediatrician with over 40 years-experience.
When she was a young medical professional, she was asked to es**rt a young boy suffering from a heart condition on his wat to a medical facility in America. However, halfway through the journey, the boy took a turn for the worse and Dr Gikonyo had to step in and help alleviate the medical situation while still in the air. This medical predicament at 30,000 feet would motivate her to pursue a career in paediatric cardiology, a specialty she has since become an expert in.
A passionate practitioner with the mission to mend the hearts of children in her home country, Dr Gikonyo was CEO of Karen Hospital, a leading medical facility which she co-founded, until August 2020.
Lean more about this renowned doctor, from Dr Gikonyo herself in her autobiography, “The Girl who dared to dream”.

Professor Bosede Afolabi is a Nigerian practitioner who has dedicated the majority of her career to the study of sickle cell anaemia and how the world’s most common hereditary blood disorder affects women. She is a professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Founder of the Maternal And Reproductive Health Research Collective, a not for profit organisation that seeks to reduce maternal mortality in Nigeria through advocacy, research and community outreach programs.
Sickle cell disease is the name for a group of inherited health conditions that affect the red blood cells. This means that there are not enough healthy red blood cells to carry adequate oxygen through the body and the most serious form is called sickle cell anaemia. Sickle cell disease is particularly common in people with an African and Caribbean family background. It is estimated that approximately 150, 000 children are born with sickle cell disease in Nigeria every year, while 40 million (1 in 4) Nigerians are healthy carriers of the sickle cell gene. Professor Afolabi is a renowned expert of sickle cell anaemia and continues to share her immeasurable expertise to mothers suffering from the condition while continuing her crucial research towards cutting maternal mortality in Nigeria.
What impact will you have in your specialty?

Professor Oheneba Boachie-Adjei is the president and Founder of the Foundation of Orthopaedics and Complex Spine (FOCOS). He hails from the lush forest region of Kumasi, Ghana, and immigrated to the United States of America in 1972 to complete an undergraduate degree at Brooklyn College. As a child, he suffered from a severe gastric illness and was inspired to become a healer by the paediatrician who cared for him.

Professor Boachie-Adjei received his Doctor of Medicine Degree from Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1980. He decided to remain in the US, completing a John H. Moe fellowship in spine deformity at the Twin Cities Scoliosis Center and Minnesota Spine Center in Minneapolis. A leading authority on spinal surgery, in 1988, he literally wrote the book on the medical specialty while on a general surgery internship in Manhattan early in his career. Professor Boachie-Adjei has published and lectures extensively on spine surgery, with a particular emphasis on surgical correction of spine deformity. He is also an inventor and holds several patents for devices used in spine surgery.

In 2014, Professor Boachie-Adjei finally returned to Ghana to run FOCOS, which had in turn become the backbone infrastructure for The Focos Orthopaedic Hospital in Accra. He describes himself as someone who was always determined to aim high, reach high and be one of the best. The spectrum of disease he and is team treat and manage is closer to severe and extremely severe. His goal is to pass on his expertise to the students of his homeland.

What would your organisation based in Africa or the Caribbean do?

A massive congratulations from everyone at DACMS to all of The University of Dundee Medical Students who have completed their Year 1 and Year 5 exams.

Studying for exams in addition to the global health and economic uncertainty is no easy call, but you all rose to the challenge!

Dr Victor H. Eastmond is the Chairman of the Caribbean Dental Program Inc. He was born in Barbados and qualified at the Royal Dental Hospital (RDH), University of London in 1974. He subsequently completed house jobs at RDH and St George’s Hospital in Maxillo-Facial Surgery before moving to Edgeware General Hospital as a Senior House surgeon. He left hospital work nine months after graduating to work in a General Dental practice in South London. Dr Eastmond studied diagnostic radiography from the Royal Free Hospital in 1968 and in later years gained certification in Forensic Odontology from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden.

In 1979, he returned to continue his dental practice in Barbados and retired in 2016. Dr Eastmond and his wife still own the ten-chair dental practice at Rosedale Dental Centre with 30 healthcare professionals.

Dr Eastmond has helped shape dentistry education and policy in Barbados through various roles and although now retired he continues to focus the organisation he founded, Caribbean Dental Programmes Inc and lecturing.
Thinking of practicing in another country after graduation? Dr Eastmond shows it really can be done successfully!

Dr Hawa Abdi (1947 – 2020) was a Somali human rights activist and physician. Dr Abdi studied medicine in Ukraine becoming one of Somali’s first obstetrician and gynaecologists and went on to pursue studies in law before working for government hospitals in Somalia. She was the founder and chairperson of the Dr Hawa Abdi Foundation (DHAF), a not-for-profit organisation that promotes a more peaceful, equitable Somalia by providing healthcare, education, shelter and access to sanitation to hundreds of displaced families.

Affectionately known as Mama Hawa to Somalis around the world, she leaves behind a profound legacy which continues to inspire many. She created the Dr Hawa Abdi Hope Village, a community for displaced Somalis with a 400-bed hospital, primary and secondary schools and an innovative community justice system. For her humanitarian work, Dr Hawa Abdi was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and earned a several awards including the BET Social Humanitarian Award, Roosevelt Medal an honorary doctorates from Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania. In 2010, she was named one of Glamour magazine’s Women of the Year along with her daughters, Amina and Deqo who also trained as physicians

Read more about her life and work in published tributes to her memory and this TED Talk.

Dr Leanne Destiny Armitage is a multi-award-winning leader, inspirational speaker, junior doctor, and Co-Founder at The Armitage Foundation. Her ultimate passion in life is to inspire people to be the best version of themselves.

Dr Armitage grown up in a single-parent home on a Peckham council estate where she witnessed street violence. She decided that she wanted to become a surgeon, but with no medics in her family or social network, she used her initiative to research the steps she would need to take towards making her dream a reality. On first applying to medical school she was unsuccessful, but determined to achieve her goal, she took a gap year. During this time, she secured three offers to study medicine and decided to enrol at St George’s University of London. Dr Armitage was also awarded the Southwark Scholarship which funded her degree.

While studying at St George’s, Dr Leanne grew increasingly frustrated by the lack of diversity across UK medical school with very few students coming from low socioeconomic backgrounds and certain ethnic minority. This fuelled a decision to co-found a charity – The Armitage Foundation – with Danial Huf. This organisation offers a medical outreach programme to students from under-represented backgrounds with the aim of increasing diversity across UK medical schools. The work of Dr Armitage has been recognised in various awards including the UK 2018 Queen’s Young Leaders Award and more recently Rare Rising Stars 2020.

Then fourth year Medicine student Tony Azuike Okafor, was named as one of the UK’s top 10 Rare Rising Stars in 2019. This award celebrates the UK’s most ambitious and talented African and Caribbean university students. It aims to share positive stories about Black students, inspiring the next generation and providing them with access to role models

Tony had always hoped to study Medicine, however just missed out on a place when his aptitude scores fell short. Instead, he began a degree in Engineering at University College Dublin, but a few weeks into his course and following discussions with family and friends, Tony dropped out to retake his Leaving Certificate (A Level equivalent) in a bit to improve his grades enough to reapply for Medicine. He secured an offer to study and the University of Nottingham and is currently in his fifth year there.
On a visit back home to Ireland, Tony faced the heart-breaking news that his uncle died of a cardiac arrest in front of his family while the ambulance was still on its way. Unfortunately, no one had been able to administer effective CPR and even if a defibrillator had been nearby, no one would have known how to use it. With a strong understanding of both engineering and medicine, Tony was inspired to get involved using artificial intelligence (AI) to bring about a medical breakthrough. He went on to attend a summit for medical professionals called AI Med Europe. Whilst there, he found himself in session where an investor challenged the audience to present and idea which needed funding. He raised his hand and pitched his idea to policymakers, industry giants and clinical specialists from around the world and it was received with applause. Only two months later, Tony was shortlisted as a top ten qualifier for the GIANT Health Event’s internationally renowned Beanstalks competition.

Tony then turned his attention to using smartphones to democratise access to healthcare services, founding HorusHealth; a digital venture to use modern technology to optimise NHS healthcare systems.
If you as a Medical or Dental student have a solution to a gap in healthcare provision, start working on it, even now!

Join us for the remainder of our Black History Month events!

Big thank you to all the members of DACMS and for sharing their food memories with us!

Here are some more tasty food memories!

Today is World Food Day, and to celebrate, we are highlighting a variety of African and Caribbean food and asking members of Dundee Afro-Caribbean Medical Society and to share with us their favourite food memories.

Could your Gran be part of the solution for expanding mental health services?
Read below to find out why!

Dr Dixon Chibanda is one of twelve psychiatrists in Zimbabwe (for a population of more than 16 million), and director of the African Mental Health Research Initiative (AMARI). He is internationally recognised for his work in developing The Friendship Bench. With a focus on belonging, this evidence-based intervention developed in Zimbabwe, uniquely bridges the mental health treatment gap. The programme is designed to help people who have common mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression, known locally as kufungisisa; translated to “thinking too much”. At the Friendship Bench, patients receive individual problem-solving therapy from specifically trained lay health workers known as Community Grandmothers. Check out his TED talk to find out why this novel idea works so well.

Since 2006, Dr Chibanda and his team have trained over 400 of the grandmothers to deliver evidence-based talk therapy for free from more than 70 communities in Zimbabwe. In 2017 alone, the Friendship Bench helped over 30,000 people there! He believes that the programme can serve as a blueprint for any community city or country interested in bringing affordable, accessible, and highly effective mental health services to citizens. If you would like to set up a bench right here in Dundee, click here to find out more!
Dr Chibanda is also an Associate Professor of the University of Zimbabwe and his journey so far tasks all of us to step up and consider solutions for the challenges we see around us.

Which issues in your community can you do something about?

Mary Seacole (1805 – 1881) was a pioneering nurse who cared for British soldiers during the Crimean war in the 19th century.

Born in Jamaica, Mary Jane Grant was the daughter of a Scottish soldier and a Creole hotelkeeper. She married Edwin Horatio Seacole, the reputed godson of Lord Nelson, in but was widowed eight years later. A memorial statue, believed to be the UK’s first honour of Mary Seacole, has stood in the grounds of St Thomas’ Hospital in London since 2016. Her heroism is also commemorated with a blue heritage plaque at 14 Soho Square, where is believed she started writing her autobiography. This classic Horrible Histories song also brings her work to life for younger generations.

In the 1840s and early 1850s when Mary Seacole nursed patients during cholera epidemics in Jamaica and Panama. She also helped organise Medical care in a British military camp during the yellow fever epidemic in Jamaica. On hearing the outbreak of the Crimean War, Mary Seacole left her Caribbean nation for England in 1854. However, the group who worked under Florence Nightingale snubbed her efforts to be recruited as a nurse (which Seacole attributed to racial prejudice) and so she set out for the Crimea on her own. By April of 1855, she had formed a partnership with Thomas Day and opened the “British Hotel” between Balaklava. At the hotel, she provided food and medicine for all and tended to the injured. This service was financed by the money paid by officers and those who could afford it. “Mother” Seacole, also served near the front, even under fire, and was the first woman to enter Sevastopol when it fell under siege in September 1855. Lord Rokeby, the British commander-in-chief, praised her work, and from the summer of 1855, her efforts were brought to public notice in England by William Russel who was a war correspondent of The Times.

In November of 1856, after the end of the Crimean War, Mary Seacole was declared bankrupt following a period of outstanding stock and unpaid bills. This prompted campaigns by The Times and Punch to reimburse her for her losses. There was also a Seacole Fund Grand Military Festival in July 157 to celebrate her achievements in the Crimea. Around the same time, she also began writing her auto biography, Wonderful Adventures of Mrs Seacole in Many Lands.

After her death, Mary Seacole was largely forgotten for almost a century. Are you prepared to do what matters regardless of recognition in your lifetime?

We present to you lupus awareness month from a patients perspective! Link in bio.

https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_OWI4MGJhNWItNDc4Yi00NzllLThkZjEtNTFjNmJhYTg1YzJi%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%22ae323139-093a-4d2a-81a6-5d334bcd9019%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22a230ed68-8d45-4166-83ff-68457aa0f23f%22%2c%22IsBroadcastMeeting%22%3atrue%7d