Beyond Dr Mwenda’s crisp white lab coat, and a stethoscope is a journey that reveals life’s lemons and confirms that one’s destiny cannot be snatched.
When he was to join Moi University to study medicine, his father could not afford fees His and decided to enroll him in a mechanical course at a polytechnic, which was cheaper. His teachers protested the move and fundraised for his undergraduate course.
Now he wears many hats –a leader, a surgeon, a writer, and a devoted family man.
“I am the first doctor my high school, St Cyprian in Meru County, ever produced. I have to be a good representative. Everything my hands’ touch should be golden,” he says.
"I believe in cross-training. Try out leadership or any other thing that may interest you."
Just like Giulia Enders, a scientist, and writer who was inspired to write about the gut in her book; Gut, The Inside Story of Our Body’s Most Underrated Organ, Dr Mwenda draws career lessons from the gallbladder.
“One may assume that the gallbladder is almost useless, but when it gets sick, your life can be in great danger.” As a published author of the book The Chronicles of a Village Surgeon, he loves to draw analogies from the diseases he treats. For instance, in his upcoming book, is a chapter dedicated to cancer in, which he says that two people may have the same cancer stage but it will treat them differently.
His bag is full of lessons. “Sometimes, I join the boxing ring with a bare knuckles but still fight and win. Other times, I lose. You see when a patient dies a small part of your soul dies with them,” he says.
Dr Mwenda encourages young medics not to get lost in their calling but try new ventures.
“I believe in cross-training. Try out leadership or any other thing that may interest you,” he says.
– BY HELLEN SHIKANDA
