Interview: Career in Medicine and Surgery in Nigeria with Dr Adeoye James Adetiloye

It’s my pleasure to be selected for profiling by your magazine.

 

1. Can we meet you? Your name, your career and something about yourself.

My name is Dr Adeoye James Adetiloye. I am a practicing Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgeon. I first became a medical doctor by studying Medicine and Surgery at the University College Hospital, Ibadan. Thereafter, I further specialised in Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgery from the West African College of Surgeons through it’s training institution at Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, Ile-Ife.

 

2. As a youth, what influences your career choice?

The greatest influence for my career path is my strong passion for caring for the sick and injured people around us. The other factor that influenced my career choice was my quest to live a simple, comfortable and respectful life.

 

3. What preparation did you make to ensure you achieve success in your career?

The Holy Bible told us that “if the foundation be faulty, what can the righteous do?”Psalm 11:3. I was told early in life that there’s no shortcut to success. Hence, I studied hard and strived to be the best always, so as to be able to cope with the competitiveness of studying Medicine.

 

4. At what point can you say you had quantum leap in your career?

I got a quantum leap in my career the first time I was appointed as an Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgeon. From then on, to the glory of God, I’ve been advancing in my career in leaps and bounds.

 

5. What are the attitudes for somebody that wants to pick your career choice needs to have to be successful in it?

Generally to be successful in life, you need the 4 Ds Diligence, Discipline, Determination and Dedication. To be a successful Medical Doctor, in addition to these 4, you need to be honest, humble, caring, enduring, trustworthy, respectful, attentive and you need to develop a learning culture; as there’s no end to learning in Medicine.

 

6. What can you say is the challenge of youths in our generation and how do you think youth can overcome it?

The main challenge of the youth nowadays is that they are too impatient, they want to get rich quick without sweat, they want a quickfix solution to all things, rather than being painstaking in getting things done properly. In a bid to cut corners, they get entangled in the vices that have plagued our society today. Next is the distraction from the various social media. Rather than spend quality time studying, they would be pinging on BBM, chatting away on WhatsApp/Facebook or watching frivolous videos on YouTube.

To overcome these challenges they need to be more focused and come to realise that nothing good comes easy. Then , they should abide by the 4 Ds I mentioned earlier, to which I will add a 5th D, Divine guidance. With God all things are possible.

7. If a youth wants to follow your career path, can you just do a career path for us starting from choice of course in senior secondary school?

To study Medicine and Surgery, from the Senior Secondary school, you should enrol in the Pure Science class. English language and Mathematics are compulsory for all professional courses. Then, you take Physics, Chemistry and Biology as they are compulsory at the UTME. The General subjects you should take include Computer Science and Geography. Agricultural Science is a better vocational subject for you, as a good understanding of the Animal husbandry would complement your knowledge of Biology and Human Anatomy in the future. Yoruba or any other indigenous languages are required for your SSCE. Further Mathematics can be taken as an adjunct as it would help you tackle some tough topics in General Mathematics or Physics.

To gain entrance into the university to study a medical degree; in your SSCE, you need to make at least a credit in English language, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology and 2 other subjects. Then you must pass your UTME and Post UTME with very high scores.

 

Once you are successful, your 1st year in the University(100 level) entails doing some Basic Science and general courses.  The Pre-clinical School continue in the 2nd and 3rd year when you take courses in the Basic Medical Sciences. The Clinical courses are taken in the 4th to 6th year, after which you will seat for the final qualifying examination. Now that you have graduated as a Medical doctor, to get fully registered with the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, you must do a one year internship in accredited hospitals. Then, you can proceed on the National Youth Service Corps.

Thereafter, if you wish to be a specialist in any field of Medicine and Surgery as I did, you can then take the required examination in your area of interest. Then, you’re reaching for the top!

 

8. If any youth wants to ask more question or relate with you, in what way or best way can they do that e.g e-mail, website, whatsapp no etc.

For further details or help you can contact me through my email address: ade2g2000@yahoo.