The Journey so Far!

A year ago I was getting ready to leave my job in the trauma center where I had spent the last seven months as a medical officer sewing up people who had sustained wounds from assault or road traffic accidents and resuscitating people who were unfortunate to be victims caught up in the crossfire between rival militant gangs or armed robbers in one of the states in the Niger Delta. I was embarking on a new phase of life. It was a relief to leave the streets of the Niger Delta for the more peaceful streets of the Federal Capital territory. It was one major reason I was leaving but the other was to change my focus and steer me away from other distractions to proceed along the path of Public Health. I had spent one year of the compulsory youth service in the Northern Part of my country and had gone on medical outreaches were I was the only health worker seeing close to two hundred patients over a two day span. This was when I began to realize that my love for surgery would take back seat to a public health pursuit.

My new job had the rather long and clumsy to explain title of Emergency Preparedness Doctor. I was to be responsible for monitoring outbreaks in the North Eastern Part of the country acting as a liaison between the local Health authorities in the different states and my organization and carrying out exploratory missions when there were cases reported (I worked for the French Section of Medecins Sans Frontieres).

When I first saw the job advertisement it had on it a caveat- Traveling 60% of the job, do not apply if not willing to travel, for me it was not a deterrent but a welcome home sign for one thing I do love is to travel! (Don't ask me where I have been, for many of the places I have traveled to are on the pages of books and my mode of transportation is my mind:)



Thus I started my trips round the North Eastern part of the country, many of the states were places I had been to when I was five for my parents took my twin and I on a trip round Nigeria and they form my early memories. But this was a whole new world for me for I now had the capacity to form more tangible memories.

My first job was as a doctor in a post measles malnutrition center, I had been employed at the end of a measles outbreak so I was sent to the field to see how a malnutrition center was being run, then I made some trips to some other states to monitor reported cases of cholera and then this year I spent most of my time working during the big meningitis outbreak. My last job before I left was to conduct a Nutritional Survey with my colleagues. All these activities took place in different states and most times I was on the road for long periods of time. It was fun to work and travel at the same time and I usually took pictures of the scenes along the way.


It was fun while it lasted and I am at the school of Public Health hoping that the journey will be even more fruitful than my past experiences. Looking forward to having a lovely time with everyone.



Olaoluwatomi Kehinde Lamikanra

MPH Candidate, 2010
Health Policy & Management
olamikan@hsph.harvard.edu