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“A day in the life of a clinician educator” – Dr. Oluseyi (Seyi) Akinola

JO Busari

BY JAMIU BUSARI (@JOBUSAR)

Dr. Oluseyi (Seyi) Akinola MBChB, MsPH, CCFP
Family Medicine Physician and Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada; National Secretary, Black Physicians of Canada. Email: Oluseyi.akinola@ucalgary.ca, secretary@blackphysicians.ca; LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/seyi-akinola-b9579024

Dr Seyi Akinola is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. She is an internationally educated health professional who completed her primary undergraduate medical education at the Obafemi Awolowo College of Health Sciences in Sagamu, Nigeria, in 2006. Since then she has gotten her practicing licenses on three continents: Africa (Nigeria), Europe (United Kingdom), and Canada.  

Upon completion of her basic medical training, Seyi decided to move into the field of Women’s Health. Spurred on by the fact that women and children in developing countries are highly vulnerable and underserved, she began pursuing additional education in the Maternal and Child Health field. 

In 2013 Seyi left for the United States to pursue a Master’s in Public Health at the Gillings Global School of Public Health, North Carolina, majoring in Maternal and Child Health alongside a Diploma in Global Health. Shortly after, in the summer of 2014, Dr Akinola relocated to Canada with her family to complete her residency training in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Calgary. Since then, she has remained a staff clinician educator in the department.  

Being an International Medical Graduate (IMG) herself, Dr Akinola advocates nationally for IMGs in Canada and sits on several committees on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) in her institution and across the country.  Other organizations where she is involved in EDI and social justice advocacy include the International Congress on Academic Medicine (ICAM), where she is a member of the EDI and Anti-Racism Advisory Committee, the EDIA Adaptive Mentorship Program, an initiative of the College of Family Physicians of Canada and also an executive member and National Secretary of the Black Physicians of Canada.

Dividing her time

When asked how she distributes her time across the various clinical, teaching, and administrative activities, considering her responsibilities as a clinician educator, Seyi responded by saying, “My head is spinning as I mentally review my portfolio, just trying to answer that question. On my employment contract document, my practice is split across the following domains: 50% Clinical Practice, 45% educational and administrative work, and 5% research.”  She concludes by saying that her schedule is so full and well-balanced, with never a dull day as she tries to navigate the unending swinging pendulum of work-life balance”.

When asked about how she enjoys the diversity of her academic, clinical, and administrative portfolio, Seyi responded that she lives by the mantra to absolutely do what she enjoys, enjoy what she does, and thrive while she is at it. “Life is too short, and I am now too old to feel stuck in managing something I do not fully enjoy without conviction. I love my job as a Family Physician. In fact, I see it as my calling, not just a job, and I have crossed several seas to be where I am today”. In this role, Dr Akinola gets to be an advocate, teacher, scholar, collaborator, and custodian of many thoughts held sacred. She affirms that she does not take this privilege and responsibility lightly. “I feel incredibly blessed to extend my persona beyond clinical skills and touch the core of the humans I deal with daily, bringing out the best of me and them for the most part. “One minute, I am in the refugee clinic, performing a clinical assessment on a newcomer to Canada, and the next thing I am asking about is their aspirations in Canada, creating a brief window to positively mentor or change their life trajectory.” She goes on further, “I may be in a national Zoom meeting with collaborators from across Canada and right after that be attending to an acutely ill patient in the teaching clinic with my medical learner, reviewing their differential diagnosis and arranging a transfer to a higher-level center for prompt medical intervention. The overlap of enjoying my health and social responsibilities from my clinical, educational, and advocacy activities certainly plays a significant role in how I appreciate my diverse portfolio”.

Challenges in her work

When asked about the challenges she faces from diversity in her work, Dr Akinola responded saying “I certainly still struggle with the diversity of my work. As a family doctor, the bulk of my job is the administrative burden generated from patient encounters and is the part of my clinical work that I least enjoy. It is time-consuming and can be quite time-sensitive. For this reason, I have become meticulous at keeping an organized calendar to track my diverse, multifaceted work.”

Many times, Seyi feels she needs more than 24 hours in a day to get by, but having a structure makes management easier to contend with. Having a great team around and being a good team player is also critical, as she can ask for help from her team members and vice versa when she feels stretched with multiple deliverables that sometimes happen concurrently. She concludes by saying, “I feel so lucky to be blessed with an incredible support system”.

Three tips for junior CEs:

  1. “Find your village” – What do I mean? No person is designed to be an island. We are social creatures at our core. Create or join a community of like-minded individuals who will uplift you when you are down, push you to be your best, and root for you when you win. I am fortunate to have my community in my immediate family, Black Physicians of Canada, Equity in Health Systems Labs (EqHS), Federation of Medical Women (FMWC), amongst others, and my core (my sister friends, and family members) who remind me of my “why”, keep me anchored and encourage me every step of the way.
  2. Seek a mentor or more. Different mentors fulfill different needs. There is no end to learning and the minute one stops learning, this is the perfect invitation to failure. There is no shame in learning and unlearning, and it is a blessing to have someone hold you by the hand or even sponsor you, nudging you in the right direction as you grow. I have been fortunate to connect with multiple mentors on my life’s journey.
  3. “Never be afraid to try. No is also a valid answer.” We all fear the prospect of a new launch, a new beginning, a new project, etc. Remember, we will never know what the end brings if we don’t unfold the beginning. A bit of audacity, laced with just the correct dose of apprehension and innovation, is welcome as we navigate this life to which there is no manual.

Awards

The views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the interviewee and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of The University of Ottawa. For more details on our site disclaimers, please see our ‘About’ page

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