In one of my wakabouts, 18 years ago, I had spotted a small board by the roadside with a bold inscription WANTED: CLERICAL ASSISTANT AT JOLAMADE SPECIALIST HOSPITAL. This was a common way of advertising vacancies especially for menial jobs in those days when internet access was quite limited.
My friend particularly encouraged me to take the job. I was attracted to it too. What a way to launch into my medical career, I thought to myself.
When I got back home that day, I told my father about this vacancy and that I would love to take it up. I could take up this additional job since my job at the time was a flexible 6-hour weekly private lessons. I could schedule my classes for the hours I’ll not be in the hospital. It’ll be a win-win for me. This, I would say is the beginning of my juggling more than one job at a time. It’s one of the reasons I could truly beat my chest that I could multi-task effectively. Oh, I hadn’t talked about how I got the job.
My father had started his career as a Clerical Assistant in the civil service and he was excited at the coincidence. He coached me on how to write an application letter and in some instances dictated to me as I wrote. I submitted my application and was subsequently invited for an interview where the Medical Director couldn’t hide his bewilderment. First, I had a sterling school certificate results and my application letter was off the hook. He was looking for a school certificate holder but not necessarily one with such an outstanding performance. I told him I was awaiting my UME results and had applied to study Medicine and Surgery at the University of Ibadan. He had graduated from the UI Medical School about three decades earlier. We clicked, shook hands and I got the offer. I resumed on the 1st of May, 2003. A day set as public holiday for Workers. He welcomed me to the club of working on a public holiday and I took the gesture quite kindly. Later in my career, I had worked on several public holidays, whether as a Medical Doctor or broadcaster.
Dr Juwon Oduwole and I bonded well. I took him as a father and he took me as a son. The news of his death last year delved a huge blow on me. The feeling was akin to the one when I realised my biological father was no more.
While working at Jolamade, I applied myself to all the aspects of the hospital from registration of the patients, filing and retrieval of patients’ cards to dispensing of drugs. There I learnt about the various formulation of drugs, dosages,,routes of administration and so on. I also learnt a number of things in hospital administration-the dos and the don’ts. Dr Oduwole would not spare me. He made sure I learnt as much as I could. This was taken a notch higher when my UME results were released and my score would comfortably secure me an admission into the Ibadan Medical School. He mentored me thoroughly and I was proud to be his protege. At a point, I was promoted to assist in the laboratory where I learnt the basics of laboratory investigations under the tutelage of Sir Kay, another amazing personality.
A prerequisite for admission into the medical school was a letter of recommendation/reference. Dr Oduwole wrote me a reference letter that I held onto for motivation in my undergraduate days. He wrote glowingly about me and reposed so much confidence in me. I knew I couldn’t afford to let him down. While I had resigned my position upon admission, he opened his door to me and I would pop in to the hospital whenever I was on break in medical school. From being a laboratory assistant, I became a clinical assistant who would often accompany him on ward rounds and join in the consultation. I still remember some of the cases “we” co-managed in those days. That’s the beauty of medicine. It’s an apprenticeship and you would retain most of what you learn hands on.
There’s more to write about Dr Oduwole, Jolamade Specialist Hospital and me. I’ll stop here for now. I may touch on this again in the series using the logo design here as reference.
Chance favours the prepared mind-Louis Pasteur.
HAPPY WORKERS’ DAY
