I recently visited the Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH) to see a friend who was on admission and I heard patients in the Surgical Ward Two talking about a young female doctor who, in their opinion, was very humble.

Intrigued by their conversation, I sat quietly by my friend while listening to their discussions about the young female doctor. In the course of their discussions, my mind went back to a recent media encounter organized by officials of the Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH) for journalists in Tamale to deliberate on how the media and authorities of the TTH could work together to enhance quality health care delivery for the people of Northern Ghana.

A lot of issues came out during that encounter. Among them was the attitude of some health professionals towards patients. Almost every journalist present that evening had one negative experience to tell the gathering about how a health professional misbehaved towards them at one point or the other when they went to the TTH to seek treatment either for themselves or a relative.

After listening to the concerns of the journalists, the Chief Executive Officer of TTH, Dr Ken Sagoe, expressed surprise about some of the stories he heard that evening. He said the philosophy of TTH was professionalism and respect for patients rights and dignity and promised to ensure that these were the driving force of operations at the hospital.

Just as I had finished reflecting on our encounter with the authorities of the hospital and was trying to link what was said that day about the attitude of some health professionals with what I was hearing that evening about the “too humble” young female doctor, my friend, Alhassan Ziblim, suddenly tapped me and pointed his finger at a corner saying “N doo, this is the doctor they are talking about,” There at the far corner was a very young female standing by a table with a stethoscope around her neck and was busy writing something inside a folder. I decided to test the humility of the doctor by approaching her to start a conversation.

Just as I approached her and greeted, she immediately stopped writing and responded “good evening my brother.” I got to know that she was called Dr Lawrencia Serwa Manu and after interacting with her briefly I told her I would find time to interact more with her and went back to find out more from the patients what was so special about the young doctor.

My friend Alhassan Ziblim described Dr Manu as someone whose respect and care towards patient were exceptional. “She is always ready to listen and attend to patients and her patience and approach to duty give every patient a sense of relief when she comes around,” he added.

“Looking at her age, one would expect her to be too proud and not respect anybody but she had not allowed her relative success in life to go too deep into her head,” he added.

Another patient, Mr Mahama Innocent Iddisa, a native of Buipe, also described the young doctor as someone who was cultured, respectful, caring and God-fearing.

“I have been here since October last year with a fractured leg and I can say that the doctors here are of a special breed,” he said. Later in an interview with Dr Manu, she expressed surprise about the commendations from the patients. She said as far as she was concerned, she was just doing her job as a medical officer, “it is therefore very surprising to hear people describe me in such a good manner while I feel I do not do things differently or extraordinarily,” she added.

Narrating her background to the Daily Graphic, Dr Manu said she was born in the 1980s and started her primary education at Harrow International School in Accra. She later left for Achimota where she continued her education from Primary to Senior High School, completing in 2002. After her secondary school education, she gained admission to the University of Ghana in 2003, where she studied briefly and left for Russia to study medicine in Belgorod State University.

She completed her medical studies successfully in 2011 and returned to Ghana the same year to start her attachment at the 37 Military Hospital. After taking the Medical and Dental Council examination in 2011, which she came out successfully, she was posted to the TTH to start her housemanship and barely three months into that, her selfless sacrifice and passion to save human life are so glaring to be ignored by anybody who falls into her hands for care and treatment.

Source: Daily Graphic

Bookmark with: