Dr Elikem Tamaklo on lifelong learning: Message to matriculating medical students

Matriculation, white coat, and congregation ceremonies at Accra College of Medicine (ACM) have attracted some top-notch medical practitioners over the years.

The keynote address for this year’s seventh Matriculation & fifth White Coat Ceremony was delivered (February 5, 2022) by Dr Elikem Tamaklo, Managing Director of Nyaho Clinic, Accra.

His focus on lifelong learning struck a chord when he said, “When you look at the different spectra of education, there's so much we can learn.”

“We have a lifelong opportunity to learn about ourselves, about others and our profession. You must recognise that information is changing at an increasingly exponential rate.”

He noted — if you take the COVID situation across the world, for example, that “within a month, the data changed so drastically, and experts have to adapt. This means that if you don't stay up to date, you'll be left behind.

“So remember that your foundation is in the field, but education is ever-expanding.”

Power, Adinkra symbols

When he was invited to speak, he decided to investigate the Accra College of Medicine and what stood up for him was the ACM logo and the set of values it communicated through the Adinkra symbols.

He said, “I remember the tingles and excitement I felt when I was undergoing this ceremony as a medical student. That was quite some time ago.

“It has been a long journey with many challenges, but some things stuck with me - especially the awareness that one day, I would have to answer the important question: ‘What did I do with my life?” Ours is a call to heal and save lives and I see that represented there.”

He noted that another Adinkra symbol represented excellence, genuineness and authenticity.

He said: “Authenticity is a value that we hold in Nyaho. In Nyaho Medical Centre, we don't take for granted that we are standing on the shoulders of giants. I am not the founder of Nyaho. It was someone else. It was a different group of people, and their sacrifices require me to honour them by my excellence.”

For Dr Tamaklo, “authenticity is the courage to say ‘I do not know, and I should ask for help’. That is the key to your success because as you go to new territories that have never been explored, no one knows all the answers, but everyone may see different parts of the answers.

“And, as we speak openly and authentically, we combine pieces of the puzzle to make sense of what we don't know. And that, for me, is another key to success.”

“Nyame nti”

And about the last Adinkra symbol, “Nyame Nti”, he noted that “So much has been said today but one thing I remember is that this organisation has been built on strong Christian values and principles.

“The world has parted, in many ways, from the values on which some of our most important institutions were founded. But when you go back to the scriptures, it's there and it cuts across that no greater love hath no man than this — to love his God and to love his fellow man.”

“For us here as medical professionals, loving each other means doing our best to save lives.”

He ended with this quote: “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.”

“It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God.”

He advised the future medical doctors that “Your playing small does not serve the world.”

“There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.”

“We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.”

“It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” Amen!

Dr Elikem Tamaklo

Dr Tamaklo graduated from St. George’s Hospital Medical School in London, U.K with a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery in 2009. He went on to work in a number of hospitals in the north-west of England with a focus in Emergency Medicine.

He took over as Managing Director of Nyaho Medical Centre in April 2015 and is currently the President of the Ghana Chapter, Stanford Seed Transformation Network.

He holds a Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, a Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching and Learning in Clinical Practice from Edge Hill University – UK, and a Master Certificate in Healthcare Leadership from Cornell University, USA.

In April 2016, Dr Tamaklo was named Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2015 by the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Ghana in recognition of his commitment to positive change in the private healthcare sector in Ghana.

The writer is a trainer of teachers, a leadership coach, a motivational speaker and quality education advocate. E-mail: anishaffar@gmail.com