Dr. Elizabeth Gitau-Maina

What is your YDN story ?

By the time we joined KMA, there was pretty much no YDN. A majority of the doctors were older doctors who had been in KMA for a while So we participated actively. I started participating in Nairobi Division and there was a need that the national office saw that led to the encouragement of more young doctors to join KMA, and that is when the idea to have the Young Doctors Network came up This was in 2018 By then I was requested to chair the first YDN committee together with my co-convener Lyndah Kemunto

So we really had an empty slate to start with There were no structures, no terms of reference, and nothing much to work with. We took up the challenge in 2018 in terms of just getting the YDN in place and setting up the terms of reference Starting with things such as who is a young doctor anyway? How do you join? How do you start activities? It was a green field for me and Lyndah. That was in 2018, April.

Towards the end of the year is when we started now sort of planning for the preconference to be held during the main conference, our Young Doctors Network pre-conference That was the first time

Inaugural Convener KMA YDN 2022/24 Assistant Secretary General

ever that we had the YDN pre-conference ahead of the conference. It took a lot of work in terms of just trying to fundraise, trying to logistically manage the meeting, and encouraging young doctors to attend. At that time, I think in early 2019, I was appointed CEO of KMA. Again I had to balance that, together with planning the preconference, which ended up being successful. We had mentorship and some bit of career talks and we had various speakers who were willing to support us even without having a big budget to work with.

We had a significant number of young doctors attend our pre-conference in Naivasha. So after that, now from that conference, I let go of the leadership of YDN, but I've remained active in terms of encouraging and mentoring the YDN leaders, and I still work closely with the YDN leaders.

What was the motive behind the formation of YDN? Why was it necessary to have such an organization?

Essentially, in terms of getting an association to be vibrant, there needs to be handover, there needs to be continuity, and also you need everyone to participate. YDN was formed to address the challenge where we didn't have a lot of young doctors feeling like they belong in KMA because it felt like it was for the older doctors who had been there over time. The idea was to create an environment where the young doctors saw their peers in YDN taking up leadership positions and also to encourage activities that were geared towards increasing the participation of young doctors within KMA. It was to draw the younger doctors’ membership, which I think we've been able to achieve. You see a lot of divisions headed or having young doctors at the leadership level, and even at the national office, Lyndah and I sit in the national team as part of YDN. We also have a number of young doctors as conveners of committees.

What were your expectations of YDN when starting out? Did you envision that the organisation would grow as much as it has?

Yes. YDN has really grown, and it's encouraging to see the growth and what YDN has morphed into. When we were starting we couldn't see the entire picture. Of course it has grown beyond our expectations, which is a good thing., especially in terms of the participation of young doctors, which I think was the actual essence of why we formed the Young Doctors Network. So we are happy that whatever the key thing we were supposed to achieve, I think we have been able to achieve because we have significant participation of young doctors within the association.

What are the achievements YDN has accomplished in the last 5 years that you are most proud of? What are the gaps that YDN has filled in the lives of young doctors in Kenya?

In terms of the biggest achievement, I would say one is the participation of young doctors, whether paid-up members or not. I think we have really gotten the participation of the young doctor. So that for me is the greatest achievement. Again, another thing is in terms of consistency. We've been able to host the pre-conference consistently for the last two, or three years. That, and also in terms of the reach of the Young Doctors Network to even include the young medical students who are just coming out of school has also happened.

And I think Marie, the current YDN convener, and the team held a successful pre-internship conference which was really commendable. Getting the young doctors into the leadership of the national office is also a great achievement. Participating within YDN enabled Lyndah and I to vie successfully for the national office. There is still work in progress in terms of ensuring that the committee is able to attract sustainable funding. There are some activities we envisioned that we are thinking of in terms of supporting the young doctor significantly, especially right now with the challenge of unemployment, and we hope it will be able to go into the next phase where we're able to seek projects and funding so that we can support our young medics to run programs that will improve lives. There's still a bit of work to be done, but I think we are on the right track.

In your opinion, where do you see YDN in the next five years? What objectives do you think YDN should focus on achieving during this time period?

It would be good to see YDN embrace almost all young doctors. In terms of getting all the doctors within the KMA umbrella, I think there's still a big need. And secondly, as I'd mentioned before, is to have YDN activities well-resourced so that we have continuous projects running within the association supporting mental health, educational programs, partnerships with other organizations, supporting the youth and having even the young doctors represented at national platforms. So that's what I would envision for the next five years.

How does one transition from leadership in YDN to KMA NEC? What has your personal journey been like ?

I joined KMA during internship while working in Murang'a. I've been participating in the Nairobi Division for quite a while. At that level, I served as the treasurer of the Nairobi Division after which I was then appointed as a YDN convener. Following those activities then I became CEO of KMA, and after that is when I vied for the Assistant SecretaryGeneral position. In terms of the contribution of YDN, of course, one is in terms of when you're given responsibility, you grow. So that responsibility of having a committee interacting with the national leadership, having to fundraise, having to organize logistics, and all this enabled me to grow as a leader and to be confident in my abilities.

Once you have an activity that you are able to plan successfully, of course, it encourages you in terms of your abilities to lead, and in terms of my participation within KMA, of course, part of YDN participation of course significantly contributed even to my appointment as CEO of KMA.

Because even when you're going into an interview you have better knowledge about the organization. You've already worked with them before. So even the performance at your interviews might be better than other people's. And also in terms of even vying for the Assistant Secretary General position, the activities I was able to do enabled me to vie successfully.

What is YDN doing to mentor young medical students and doctors? What are some of the opportunities for medical students in YDN? How can they plug in while still in medical school?

YDN has an online platform on WhatsApp where various opportunities are posted. You have various resources sent there so that at least it keeps the membership updated. Additionally, the events that YDN holds, whether online from time to time or the annual pre-conference and other physical events, of course, is just another opportunity that enables the young doctors to network with other doctors and also to learn a few things here and there, and get mentorship. So YDN creates opportunities for young doctors to receive mentorship from the older medics and also from their peers as well, and also get opportunities of what is available out there. For the young medics out there, I would say it's possible for medical students to join KMA as associate members and participate within the various divisions that are there and also participate within the Young Doctors Network. Participate in the various activities, as we're always looking for volunteers for various things.

So indeed it's an opportunity for medical students to plug in and also host events within their schools together with the YDN. I would encourage someone to join KMA, join the Young Doctors Network, and always ask for help, if you have any idea that you think can be implemented within YDN, I think the YDN convener is always ready to receive any feedback.

What are some of the biggest challenges that have faced YDN in the past five years? What are some ways YDN has navigated these challenges?

Maybe the biggest is funding in terms of activities, because when we have funds we can have more activities, and also just trying to move from the unknown to the known. So many people still do not understand what YDN is.

It's been a challenge to get doctors to participate, but I think we've had a small number of doctors who've been able to steer the organization. So I would say in terms of just getting it from zero to where it is, getting it known and getting people to understand this association has been a bit challenging in terms of getting the word out there, but it's also not been too bad. The major one would be getting enough funding to do more activities.

What is your YDN story ?

My journey with the Kenya Medical Association (KMA) began in 2016, when I joined to support my friends who were contesting in an election. At the time, I didn't fully understand the work of the association. Thereafter, I attended the first KMA Annual Scientific Conference in Nanyuki. At the meeting, it was apparent that KMA had predominantly senior and decorated doctors and professors, with little representation of the younger colleagues. It was also a bit intimidating at first, but I quickly realized that senior doctors were approachable and willing to share their knowledge. I was pleased to interact with the senior colleagues who have since been my mentors.