A day in the life of a Nairobi gynaecologist

KENYA: The average Nairobi gynaecologist handles 25-35 patients over an eight-hour period every day. That translates into about six patients an hour, or one patient every 10 minutes. But the question is: What quality of medical care can each patient receive in such a short time?

For Dr Mutiso, each day begins at 3am, if there are no emergencies. After morning prayers, a run and a quick session at the gym, he has a light breakfast and is ready for the day by 5.30am. Next is an online review of newspapers, email, social media and his schedule for the day.

The three core areas of service delivery, training, teaching and research then take place simultaneously in different contexts and extend for the next 14 hours.

Service delivery requires a variety of practices, such as regular checkups of women, delivering newborns, and gynaecological and oncological surgery. The specialty often involves lengthy days in a very unpredictable field.

This would otherwise be manageable if it was to happen in one place in a predictable manner. No, it doesn't. This is a random occurrence in different parts of the city, which makes one have to move from Karen Hospital, to Aga Khan, Nairobi Hospital, Mater  Kenyatta and many other hospitals where one has admission privileges.

Nairobi traffic jams also take their toll on a doctor. On a busy day, one may spend an equivalent of six hours driving around the city and cover up to 200 kilometres. If there are emergencies extending into the night, one may have little or no sleep at all.

The 'nomadic' life of a busy doctor in the city is the defining mark of an upcoming, consultant practitioner. As my colleague Mutiso remarked, "before you end up with a good client base and narrow down your practice to a smaller geographic area, one usually has known all the potholes and bumps on every city road".

Little wonder that sometimes, the family very much misses their beloved as he runs around to earn an honest income.