Pediatric Oncology Clinical Officer at KNH; Dr. Godrey C. Wadu

By Steven Arwa

Coming across a medical officer the general public perception is that they are always serious individuals who cannot easily see an ounce of cheerfulness in them especially going by the intensity of their duties, providing exceptional medical healthcare to their patients.

This is a fallacy and meeting with one of KNH’s Clinical Officers, Dr. Godrey C. Wadu as I have had the opportunity on different occasions may easily come to see why this is the case. His ever-cheerfulness and welcoming presence bring out an individual who despite working in a critical environment, his ambiance rubs off positively not only on his colleagues at the place of work but also on his patients.

Newsline got the opportunity to have a sit down with Dr. Wadu to find out more about him and his career as a medical professional.

What do you pride most of your work not only in Ward 1E but KNH in general?

First and foremost, getting an opportunity to work at KNH as a medical professional is an opportunity on its own. That is to say, it is something that I will never take for granted and I take pride in. Also going by the high levels of unemployment in Kenya today, I see myself as lucky to be here.

Since you were posted in Ward 1E, in 2020, you haven’t been moved to any other Wards/ Designations, how does that portray your work?

I see myself as an all-around person. I would put it down to how I interact with my patients, my colleagues, and of course the management as they have seen me fit to continue to offer my services to Paediatric Oncology patients of Ward 1E. Therefore, I would say it portrays my work well as I always strive to learn more and improve the quality of services I offer, and in this sense, it is just not in the medical aspect but also outside the sphere of medicine like participating in activities that assist with their all-round well-being as they continue with their treatment at KNH.

Has it always been your ambition as a Clinical Officer to provide medical healthcare to Paediatric Oncology patients?

Honestly, the first time I was appointed I was not looking forward to working in a Paediatric Oncology Ward and Oncology in general as it was not one of the fields, I thought I would develop an interest but I am a different kind of person in the sense that I don’t like looking at the difficulties in an opportunity but rather opportunities in difficulties. It wasn’t easy at first, but I chose to develop a positive attitude toward my work, colleagues, and patients.

Slowly as I developed the culture of learning, I developed an interest, therefore, allowing me to acquire skills and knowledge which improved my attitude toward Paediatric Oncology and eventually the services I deliver to my patients and KNH in general.

I have seen you interact with the patients at different times, when they are feeling gloomy while receiving treatment and when they are at their happiest moments, how do all these moments impact your ability to offer quality medical care?

How you handle each situation will always have an impact on the quality of medical care you are offering to your patients. One of the things I have come to learn from my interaction with patients and my colleagues is that there is a difference between treating a disease and treating a patient. A good doctor treats the disease but the best doctor treats the patient. Treating the patient does not begin with you knowing a lot of science but rather for me, it begins with the patient being able to believe that you can treat them.

Therefore, the patient’s perception of you as a medical caregiver plays a big role in how they respond to interventions you are giving them especially when your patients are children therefore, I have learned to adapt according to circumstances. Children’s attitude changes easily therefore that’s why you see me always cracking jokes and laughing with them it makes them feel that they can trust you and this helps in how they respond to the medication they are receiving.

What are some of the major challenges that you have encountered so far in the course of discharging medical services to your patients?

Challenges are quite diverse, there are challenges for me as a person, my experiences, and those related to working in the ward. First, when I started in ward 1E it took me some time to adjust to my new role as you know when you are new to a place learning a new routine takes time. This I was able to overcome when I decided to develop the right attitude towards practicing in this particular unit and wanting to learn more which helped me to outgrow my fears and adjust to my work environment.

In the Ward, the major setback comes when one is dealing with cases of cancer patients relapsing therefore regressing significant progress that might have been made. In Paediatric Oncology, it is easy to get attached to the patients as they look up to you for guidance, moral support, and assurance therefore, whenever they relapse it greatly affects not only me but also my colleagues. I believe during such times medical professionals need psychological support because such instances can easily drain you emotionally.

When you are not at work what do you do to relax?

I am like any other human being I also have got interests outside my profession.

Outside KNH I write music and I am also a singer. I enjoy singing and am hoping to realize my potential as a singer that’s not to say at some point I will leave my medical path but I will be living it from a different angle and see how much I can do when being on the other side.

Clinical Officer KNH, Dr. Godrey C. Wadu

PHOTO | STEVE ARWA

My artist name is G8-17 and the first music I released was about my mom as a thank you because she has played a critical role that has made me become who I am today. The music I like most is hip-hop and hopefully, if am to release another song it will be in that line.

Parting shot?

Like I said before, medical professionals are like any other human beings, we have families and children, and we get tired and also get sick. Therefore, sometimes in the course of discharging our duties, we may come out a little bit strict or inapproachable, this might only look so because of the nature of the work, and the psychological and emotional expense that we go through sometimes hence you have to show some level of strictness to ensure that things don’t get out of hand because sometimes it might mean life and death.

However, we are also social beings, we enjoy good times even when we are at work, crack jokes with our patients and colleagues, and is very much approachable as I am evidence of that.

MAIN PHOTO | STEVE ARWA Dr. Godrey Wadu attending to a Peadiatric Oncology patient in Ward 1E