Ghana has the men, women: Toast to 26-year-old first female cardio surgeon
The awesome news of a 26-year-old female heart surgeon who made history in 2022 as the first ever Ghanaian woman to achieve that feat is my celebrant and toast of the year.
At a time when some are using their talents to bring others down, others inventing ways to dupe and steal and yet others to engage in frivolities, there are many others who are in positive modes, seeking to advance in knowledge that will save lives and make life better in our world.
In the midst of the doom stories making the front pages and screaming loud on social media, the sweet scent of a beautiful achievement of a 26-year-old youth shattering the glass ceiling has given me a lot to clap for this week.
Celebrant
The celebrant, Dr Penelope Baaba Tettey Adinku, a true and proud Ghanaian trained here in Ghana, is a testament to what a Ghana-trained professional can do.
Having had her secondary education at the prestigious Wesley Girls’ High School in Cape Coast, she continued on to the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) Medical School, where she studied Medicine.
Upon qualification, she pursued a specialty in open heart surgery at the West African College of Surgeons. She qualified in 2022 from the College as Cardio Surgeon, becoming the first female Cardio Thoracic Surgeon in Ghana.
That same year, she successfully performed an open heart surgery on a six-year-old child to the applause of her bosses and colleagues.
One is raising a glass to Dr Penelope because she seems to have defied all odds at a time when some medical doctors are reportedly leaving our shores after their training with the tax payer’s money to seek greener pastures elsewhere, thus adding to the country’s brain drain.
Though her field of specialisation is in demand worldwide, and with the youthful years ahead of her, she was energised with a passion to contribute to heart healing in the country and has since been working assiduously at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra.
Admittedly, not many women go into the study of medicine, more so to specialise in open heart surgery.
However, for Dr Penelope, it was a passionate call and she availed her mind to it with full dedication and long nights of studying.
She admitted in an interview with the media that not many women get attracted to heart surgery because of the demands of managing a home and a family and of course the higher demands of the job.
History
So, as she makes history in a male-dominated medical field at this young age and with the achievement of saving lives by fixing hearts, arguably the most important organ in the body, the picture is clearly painted that everything is possible when one avails one’s mind to it.
That is why alarming stories of some young men and women wasting their talents and time on fruitless ventures hurt.
The abuse of opioids of late by the youth, for example, is becoming quite worrying with the warnings of looming danger coming from specialists.
The same experts in psychiatry are as well raising red flags on the increasing addiction of the youth to gambling, another psychiatric problem on our hands as a country.
While positive stories like that of Dr Penelope and many more who are yet to be discovered give encouragement that the nation abounds in young, committed talents, there are equal talents we are losing to damaging frivolities.
They are comparatively disappointing and heartbreaking.
Deceptive world
In a deceptive world where all is glitter but sometimes half empty, the minute they step out of school, secondary or tertiary, they get blinded by the glitters of a high life they see around them on the Internet and elsewhere.
They are in a rush to acquire wealth and fame and be like celebrities, though fleeting they might be.
They refuse to see the toils and long years of hard work their parents and neighbours have had to go through to achieve what they have; having been brought up and grown up in a seeming instant world where everything happens with a push of a button.
A world with ready-made aids where everything (from food to drinks) is instant and working out arithmetic and equations is already calculated with a push of a button.
Nothing like the quick mental exercises some of us were drilled in at school. The generations after us want things and they want them instantly.
The spirit of want has deceived many of them into life on the highway of laziness, idleness and showmanship, clear paths to misdemeanours.
Success stories like that of youthful Dr Penelope Baaba Tettey Adinku need to be played over and over at the rooftops.
Those in the get-rich-quick and high life modes need a reset mind to know that the world is a better place for those who avail their minds to hard work.
It is the only way success evolves and victory crowns efforts.
Writer’s E-mail: vickywirekoandoh@yahoo.com
