Hello from Northern Ghana! Although I am a US-based trainee I have been lucky enough to already be living and working in Northern Ghana as an OB/GYN through the AMPATH partnership since 2022. Having made Tamale my home for over a year has its advantages – in these first first few months of the Fogarty fellowship I feel fortunate that all my energy is not going into acclimating to a new country or learning the cultural nuances of northern Ghana but instead I am re-focusing my energy into transitioning from a purely clinical role as an OB/GYN into that of a clinician-researcher. This transition, which I have been yearning for over the last few years of my career, was more personally challenging than I expected! As a clinician, and specifically as an OB/GYN, I am instinctively drawn to help women in a very hands-on way given that ultrasound, labor, and surgery are all very physical parts of my job. Shifting to less “hands on work” as I learn research methodologies and frameworks, develop my research protocols, submit by IRB, finalize my study tools, and assemble a core research team to study cervical cancer screening has been an adjustment.
This change in my day-to-day work, at times painful in the sense that I miss my patients and working with my hands, is a necessary step in my journey to grow as a clinician-researcher. The uncomfortable feelings that sometimes come with change have reaffirmed a couple things: 1. I love being an OB/GYN and working in Women’s Health 2. Learning new research skills, while already being a full-fledged clinician, is humbling and a necessary part of my journey. I am excited for the next 9 months ahead as an ACHIEVE Trainee and will continue to embrace all the change that comes my way on this exciting path of becoming a clinician-researcher.