When she appeared for an interview with Spice FM, Dr. Christine Ngaruiya remained composed with her bright face occasionally radiating with an enchanting smile. Ngaruiya has slowly ascended the field of academia and is currently an Assistant Professor in the Section of Global Health and International Emergency Medicine in the Department of Emergency Medicine (DEM) at Yale University.
She has been at the forefront of research specialising in Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) such as cancer, diabetes and hypertension. Ngaruiya was influenced to take this path because of the glaring inequalities that she realised hindered access to care especially for black people.
Early Life
Following her parents’ immigration, Ngaruiya was born in Nebraska in the U.S. She was raised alongside her elder sister, before coming back to Kenya. The move was fuelled by the parents’ desire to have their daughters experience the Kenyan culture.
The medic studied at St. Christopher’s in Nairobi and thereafter joined Rusinga for her secondary education where she sat the IGCSE exams. She is grateful for the experience she had at Rusinga.
“It was a strict but great school which instilled in us the knowledge and freedom for progress,” she says.
Ngaruiya reveals that she can comfortably communicate in other foreign languages like French and German. Additionally, she understands a little bit of her native Kikuyu language.
In 2002, Ngaruiya went back to the US and reunited with her parents.
Medical School
Ngaruiya wanted to study zoology but changed to pursue medicine after her mother’s intervention. In the U.S, it is required for one to first take a pre-medicine course before pursuing medicine.
She majored on sociology with a minors in psychology. She recalls reading books that brought to light how the underprivileged races faced inequalities in health seeking behaviour and treatment.
“I remember stepping into my first sociology class and being really aghast with learning about what healthcare disparities are; inequalities in care that are systematic,” she says.
Emergency Medicine
Ngaruiya then studied medicine at Nebraska University and went in for a residency in emergency for three years. She says even though emergency departments are dreaded, they play a role in shaping one into a multi-dimensional medic.
As they say that the people you meet play a role in transforming oneself, Ngaruiya was privileged to be under the guidance of Dr. Judith Tintinalli, one of the founders of the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of North Carolina.
Joining Yale University
Ngaruiya dreamed big and resolved to apply for a fellowship at Yale University, one of the Ivy league institution. She made the application and was accepted to pursue Global Health Fellowship at Yale which lasted 2 years.
She would then pursue a Masters Science in Tropical Medicine and International Health, graduating in 2015. A year later, she joined Yale University as a clinical instructor.
Giving back to Kenya
She is a woman who wears many hats and has been teaching trainee doctors and especially in public health and emergency care. Ngaruiya details that the best part of lecturing is seeing students grasp and understand various concepts. She started an organization called Kenyan Doctors-USA whose objectives is among to others facilitate interested US based doctors to return back to Kenya and to build partnerships.
She is also working on various projects in Kenya including Tobacco Cessation with the Emergency Department of Kenyatta National Hospital. Additionally, she is carrying out an assessment for Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) care in various emergency departments in Kenya. She is set to roll out another project with the National Cancer Institute of Kenya (NCIKenya) concerning cancer and climate change.
The indefatigable doctor is also on a mission to introduce a first ever journal for medical students in Kenya. This will be done in collaboration with the Medical Students Association of Kenya (MSAKE) following a grant from the Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH).
Honours
According to her LinkedIn profile, she has received several honours. These are: The Emergency Medicine Resident’s Association (EMRA) Augustine D’Orta Award, Harambe Entrepreneur Alliance Associate and Harambe Pfizer Fellow Award, the 2016 Outstanding International Alumnus by the Nebraska Alumni Association and the Yale Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine award.
