Meet Dr. Mange Manyama, lecturer in anatomy
Q&A with Dr. Mange Manyama, a lecturer in anatomy.
Q: Where in Tanzania do you hail from?
A: I was born and raised right here in Mwanza. I did all of my elementary schooling in Mwanza, and then proceeded to high school in Morogoro where I qualified to study medicine at the University of Dar es Salaam.
Q: How long have you been teaching at BUCHS?
A: I’ve been teaching at BUCHS for about 4 years now. This was just about when BUCHS was started so you can consider me as one of the pioneer lecturers.
Q: What changes have you seen since then?
A: Well, one significant change I have seen in the young life of this university is the increase in medical student numbers from the initial class of 10 to the current figure of nearly 200 MD students. Another notable change has been the building of a new MD students’ hostel and the renovation of the IAHS students’ hostel, all thanks to the Touch Foundation.
The library has also seen some improvements, especially as far as my teaching subject is concerned. When I first started teaching Anatomy, there were hardly any Anatomy reference materials in the library, but now, as we speak, the library is adequately stocked with an appropriate number of Anatomy reference materials.
Q: Are there any areas at BUCHS that you think need extra attention and improvement?
A: Due to the increase in student numbers over the last four years, there has been tremendous pressure on vital college resources necessary for the effective teaching of medicine. Good examples that immediately come to mind are the laboratories and the cadaver room. These are crucial areas for training, and we at BUCHS hope that the Touch Foundation can assist us to improve these facilities to meet the needs of our students.
Q:What would assist you in doing your job better?
A: What immediately comes to mind is the need for a substantial increase in academic staff to accommodate the exponential increase in student numbers! The Anatomy department, for example, currently has only two faculty members and is clearly overstretched. Ideally our department would have at least four members on staff.
Q: Are there students who have inspired you at BUCHS?
A: Yes, most definitely. There is a particular case of one MD student who was waitlisted because he had not managed to secure a student loan from the government. He also had barely made the qualifying grade for the MD degree program. As luck would have it, he was eventually chosen when another student dropped out and freed up a space. Thanks to sponsorship from Touch, this student was able to meet his tuition and accommodation costs and has been consistently top of his class for the last two consecutive years. I guess the lesson here is that everybody deserves a chance to prove themselves.
Q: What advice would you give the next generation of Tanzanian doctors?
A: Work hard and apply the medical ethics you will learn during your studies. The reason I stress this is because I have observed that freshly minted doctors often segregate their patients according to their income status. The wealthy are given preferential treatment while the poor are ignored or receive delayed attention. We strive to instill medical ethics in all of our students at BUCHS and stress the importance of treating all patients equally.
Q: On a more personal note, please tell us about yourself.
A: I am married and I have two lovely daughters. The first one is four while the second is one year. I enjoy soccer very much and I also like to spend my leisure time catching up on the latest medical advances published in reputable medical and research journals.
Q: Have you had any notable experiences in the medical field since joining Bugando?
A: In 2002 I was selected to go to Weill Cornell in New York for a course on “Problem Based Learning” (PBL). I found the PBL style of teaching very positive in affecting the way students interact with one another when discussing cases, and I applied certain aspects of PBL to my teaching here at BUCHS. I encourage my students to both ask and answer questions themselves, creating healthy debate and encouraging creative thinking.