Adu Appiah-KubiKomfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi & University of Health & Allied Sciences, Ghana
Cancer on the African continent is on the increase. According to World Health Organization (WHO) data, in 2012 alone more than 8.2 million people died from cancer, and about two thirds of those were in low- and middle-income countries, the many of which are in Africa. The most common cancers in Africa are that of the cervix, breast, liver and prostate. Incidence of cancer impoverishes the sufferer and the family and is even more profound when the patient is a woman.
Having had a first hand experience watching my mother die from liver cancer, Gynaecology Oncology has always been my preferred area of study as I aspire to save many families from the pains mine went through with my mother.
There is a feeling of trust that develops between a doctor and a patient when the doctor genuinely cares for the patient and is empathetic to the patient’s plight. This gives me joy and satisfaction and is what motivates me to always give my all for my patients. Not only do I want to dedicate my life caring for women with gynaecological cancer, but my ambition is to participate in research that contributes to the reduction in the incidence of such cancers.
My daily activities involve providing service at the teaching hospital where I work and teach medical students and residents. I also work as a lecturer in a medical school in the university. I volunteer my spare time to an organisation which does free medical outreach to the underprivileged performing free gynaecologic surgeries and educating them on diseases. My passion is caring for women with cancer and I am particularly interested in cervical cancer and ovarian cancer.
I am currently working on a a project in cervical cancer seeking to find the reasons why our women present so late to the hospital and finding ways of curbing that and also trying to secure funding to work on the incidence of BRCA in Ghanaian women with ovarian cancer. I will appreciate a collaboration to this effect. I am very privileged to have been selected for the 2019 IGCS Shingo Fujii Young Doctors Summit Travel Grant to attend the 2019 IGCS Meeting in Japan in the same year I was honoured as the best doctor (snr category) in my hospital which is the second biggest teaching hospital in Ghana. I am also privileged to have been selected to receive funding for the 2019 IGCS Visiting Scholar and Mentorship Program.
Shiv RajanKing Georges Medical University, India
IGCS Member since 2018
Gynecological malignancies are very commonly referred in our hospital. I decided to pursue a career in this field in 2013. I have completed my research project in epithelial ovarian cancer at our university. I am actively involved in the clinical management of cervix cancer and germ cell ovarian tumors. We hold tumor board meetings and clinical pathological meetings every week. I am faculty in charge of the Hospital Based Cancer Registry Program at our university in which we are looking at pattern of care in cervix cancer. Currently, we are also promoting preventive oncology at our university.
Bushra KhanGynaecologic Oncologist, Ayub Teaching Hospital, Abbottabad
I decided to pursue a career in gynaecological oncology because there is a big need in my community and a profound lack of awareness of women’s cancer prevention and treatment. Even the very educated do not know enough about proper gynaecological oncological surgery.
After completing my fellowship in Gynaecological Oncology from Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan, I joined a teaching hospital where I was already working. It caters a vast, mostly rural area where patients come in advanced stages. Unfortunately, the gynaecologists here have no clear understanding of managing these patients. I hope to bring my new knowledge to help the local population and utilize my IGCS membership to access education and resources and to make connections with gynaecologic oncology specialists around the world.
Freweini Tesfay MeleseAssistant Professor of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Saint Paulo's Hospital Millennium Medical College, Ethiopia
Member Since 2017.
The reason why I decided to pursue my career in women`s cancer are; 1. Women still are the disadvantaged segment of the population in our country. 2. There are very few gynecologic oncologists in my country which they recently graduated but still untouched demand. Being one of them, l will contribute something on provision and scaling up the standards of prevention, treatment, training and research activities pertaining the women’s cancer. 3. Finally of course, I have a major interest in treatment and study gynecologic malignancies. In addition to the activities that I have as a general gynecologist and obstetrician, I also have a major involvement in the diagnosis, treatment and follow up of women with cancer.
