Why I want to be a doctor
Story of Marian Hamisi and why she wants to be a doctor.
My name is Marian Hamisi. I’m twenty years old, and come from the Mtwara region of Tanzania, which is very far from Mwanza. However, my family now resides in Dar es Salaam.
I have three older sisters who are all in university. One is getting her masters in nutrition. Another is completing her degree in journalism, and the third is getting a degree in computer science. My father taught mathematics at Muhimbili University in Dar, but he is now retired. My mother is a journalist.
A number of factors led me to medical school. Since I was a child, I have enjoyed studying science. It was my favorite subject in school. More importantly, I’ve always loved taking care of people. For a number of years now, I’ve been helping my mother take care of my grandmother, who has had several strokes and is confined to bed. We’ve been lucky enough to get her a physiotherapist, but it has not been easy and has been very expensive.
My grandmother’s illness showed me how frightening it is when a doctor is not available to take care of you. As much as possible I want to be that doctor who is there for those in need, such as my grandmother.
Many of my grandmother’s health problems are heart related, and her condition has sparked my interest in focusing on cardiology. There are too few cardiologists in Tanzania, and if someone needs heart surgery, he or she must usually fly abroad, which most people cannot afford to do. So many people in Tanzania die because of a lack of access to specialists.
Perhaps our biggest problem in Tanzania involves the healthcare infrastructure now in place. We don’t have an adequate number of facilities to train doctors and treat patients, and even if we did, we don’t have enough staff for them.
I love being a medical student. It’s very difficult but extremely rewarding. Whenever I can, I like to walk the wards of Bugando Hospital, which is attached to BUCHS, and talk to the patients. Many are alone and very frightened, so it gives me a chance to comfort them and cheer them up. Being a doctor is not just diagnosing and treating disease but also improving the quality of sick people’s lives.
My country needs help in so many ways. People get sick and die because nobody is nearby to treat them. They die of malaria and other diseases that can easily be cured or treated, and it’s such a great pity. We are lucky to get the support that we do from the Touch Foundation. We count it as a blessing.