The need for specialised medical care is immense in Uganda, and Dr Judith Namuyonga-Twesiime is a rare find to begin with.
She is a pediatric cardiologist and consultant at the Uganda Heart Institute and a trailblazer – the first woman in the country to specialise in paediatric cardiology – through which she has dedicated her life to mending little hearts, literally.
Born in Butaleja District, eastern Uganda, her path into medicine, she says, was a “miraculous” calling.
“The Lord called me to be a children’s doctor,” she says.
For years, Dr Namuyonga-Twesiime has worked with children, enabled by her wide academic knowledge in medicine in Pediatrics and Child Health.
She holds a Masters degree in Medicine in Pediatrics and Child Health from Makerere University, a bachelor of Medicine and bachelor of Surgery from Makerere University Medical School.
She is also an honorary lecturer at the Makerere University College of Health Sciences in the department of Pediatrics, where she coordinates cardiology training at residence level.
Before undertaking her residency in Paediatrics at Makerere, she worked with an HIV organization and beyond her clinical work,
Her work at the Uganda Heart Institute is extensive and specialized, 80% of which is to diagnose heart diseases in children both acquired and congenital.
She possesses advanced training in echocardiography from the University of Alberta in Canada, which “involves imaging of the heart and screening to scrutinise cases of children with heart diseases that require surgery and selecting the right candidates so that we minimise risk for surgical complications”.
Her expertise is crucial in guiding surgical teams to the exact part of defect and her additional training in pediatric cardiac ICU, which she obtained in Egypt, helps her to save children with heart complications.
Beyond this, she also does echocardiography in fetuses, which she pioneered in October 2021, under which she scans hearts of unborn babies in their mother’s womb to diagnose or rule out congenital heart diseases.
Challenges
However, her work has not been without challenges.
Early in her career, Dr Namuyonga-Twesiime had to live with the fact that she had broken into a field that is largely dominated by men.
“When I had just started my training in 2013, I found a field that was dominated by men,” she recounts, noting that the dominance was more pronounced when she joined Uganda Heart Institute, where she was the only woman among three gentlemen in the department.
However, amid the gender imbalance, she soldiered on and made several changes that would create a relatable environment for children such as the echo lab.
“The Echolab was painted grey yet this was a children’s lab. The curtains were dull, and there was nothing attractive to a child,” she says.
Thus, there was need to create a relatable environment for children.
Apart from work-related challenges, Dr Namuyonga-Twesiime has also had some difficulties in her education journey, especially during her cardiac ICU training in Egypt.
“I think it was because of the Sharia law. Women are not highly valued in Muslim environments. I felt a bit unvalued. I wouldn’t keep quiet because I wasn’t trained or brought up to be quiet,” she says.
However, this would create some trouble, but because of her tough skin she lived through the challenge to the very end.
Leading the change
Being the firstborn, Dr Namuyonga-Twesiime developed a tough skin early in life, which gave her an opportunity to develop into a confident young woman early in life.
This subsequently elevated her into leadership roles and gave her the confidence to dare into areas that had traditionally been dominated by men.
And her resilience has created a positive evolution, which has seen a number of women pick interest in cardiology.
“It was a male-dominated field when I joined. After I joined, another male, who now works in Jinja hospital, joined but after him, it has been ladies. Currently our department has 9 women compared to four men,” she says.
Working at Uganda Heart Institute
All through her career, Dr Namuyonga-Twesiime has received several lucrative job offers from private hospitals.
However, she has chosen and continues to choose Uganda Heart Institute.
“I didn’t actually apply for the job, it found me, they looked at my master’s research since I had done a thesis on children with HIV and heart diseases,” which gave her some leverage.
she says.
However, she also was the first female to enrol for specialization in paediatric cardiology, in country. Dr Judith Namuyonga-Twesiime has through her work and training met a number of inspirational people such as,
Prof Ana Mocumbi, a pediatric cardiologist in Mozambique and Prof Jowi Christine from Kenya, who have provided guidance and support to set her career.
For instance, Prof Mocumbi made her to appreciate the value of finding a balance between work and family, which has been a key life lesson in both her work and family life.
“She told me ‘Judith you must plan for your family don’t only think about cardiology’. I thought that was very important advice and it has helped me in so many ways,” she says.
A woman of many hats
Dr Namuyonga-Twesiime has skillfully navigated the challenging terrain of her demanding career while nurturing her personal life as she wears many hats of a mother, a wife, a minister in church, lecturer and doctor.
“I find time for everything,” she says, noting that she is always mindful of how she allocates her time and energy, in all of which, her husband has been a pillar of support that has helped her to find the right balance.
But beyond her husband she has placed great value in developing genuine friendships and seeking mentorship by surrounding herself with a close-knit group of friends and mentors who contribute to her social and professional life.
The most rewarding aspect of her career, she says, is the impact she has had on lives of children and their families through which she has saved and restored lives.
“I want to encourage young women to persevere and focus on their aspirations,” she says, noting that by exposing young women to the field of cardiology and providing them with opportunities and support, they make it easy for women to join.
“If you want more women to do cardiology we can introduce some special grants, especially for girls who cannot afford University tuition. We need mentors in schools, in colleges even those who are doing clinical medicine, and for clinical officers, we need to encourage them. We need to expose our children right from a younger age,” she says.