A passion for women's health

At the Okahao circuit's Onandjila Village's Oshuulagulwa Primary School, David Emvula finished his elementary education. After that, he relocated to Windhoek to complete his secondary education at Khomasdal's Ella du Plessis High School. He enrolled in a two-year pre-medical training programme at the University of Namibia (Unam) after graduating from high school.

Emvula had the good fortune to be admitted at the conclusion of the two years to study medicine at the University of Pretoria (UP), where he eventually graduated in 2011.

From 2012 to 2013, he completed a two-year, required medical internship at Witbank Hospital. Emvula applied for training as a specialist at UP in 2017 after working as a medical officer in obstetrics and gynaecology at Kalafong Tertiary Provincial Hospital and Katutura State Hospital. He earned both a master's degree in obstetrics and gynaecology and a fellowship at the College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (College of Medicine SA) in October 2020.

He is not one of those youngsters who told everyone they wanted to be doctors. He said his biology teacher from high school, Mrs Louw, played a part in his decision to pursue a career in medicine, and he would always be grateful for that.

He added that deciding to specialise in obstetrics and gynaecology is comparable to choosing a field of study at university. During his undergraduate training, he was exposed to and rotated in different departments of medicine as early as third year. This process continued during his medical internship. Upon the completion of the internship, one can register as a general practitioner.

Emvula made the decision to pursue obstetrics and gynaecology as a specialty after his internship since he had a deep love and passion for the field.

Obstetricians and gynaecologists care for pregnant women and their unborn baby, and also look after women’s sexual and reproductive health.

“A career in obstetrics and gynaecology is flexible, exciting and fulfilling if one has passion for it,” he said.

He opened a private obstetrics and gynaecology practice after completing his specialty studies. His desire to run a business while doing what he loves drove him to establish the practice, and after acquiring the knowledge and abilities required to offer high-quality obstetrics and gynaecologic healthcare services, he reasoned why not combine the two.

Emvula highlighted that his journey has been great thus far and he enjoys his work. Every day, he learns something new on how he can effectively improve his patients’ experience.

“Our most critical and foremost focus is on quality patient care and its always great seeing a patient coming to us with a concern and leaving with a smile.”

He said when he started the practice, he was optimistic that it would do well, considering that he and his team prepared well through adequate training to ensure that they deliver quality yet affordable obstetrics and gynaecologic healthcare services.



Accomplishments and challenges

Emvula narrated that one of his greatest achievements is seeing his patients smile, adding that helping to deliver healthy babies to expecting couples is very satisfying.

Another of the practice’s accomplishments is seeing patients with gynaecological issues that require surgery get discharged from the hospital. The difficulties include dealing with a poor result while doing everything possible to help the patients, particularly pregnancy-related issues such miscarriages or unexplained intrauterine foetal death.

He continued that the work can be demanding and the working hours can be unpredictable.



Goals

Emvula said their short-term goal is to be the leading obstetrics and gynaecology practice of choice for Namibians. This goal can be obtained through continued professional development and continued advancements in medical technology. He added that his team has the vision to be leaders in the field of minimally invasive and robotic surgery in gynaecology.



Advice to the youth

“Firstly, one needs to have a vision and a mission to start a business. I believe that as entrepreneurs when we declare a commitment to a vision, we are making a statement about our passions and our convictions,” he said.

Emvula added that there is no typical day in obstetrics and gynaecology, which makes the job interesting. He usually starts with ward rounds at 06:30 and attends an audit meeting at Katutura State Hospital at 07:30. After the audit meeting, the day might include ward rounds, an elective theatre list, time at a gynaecology outpatient clinic or high-risk antenatal care. In the afternoons, he sees patients at his practice.



Hobbies

Reading medical journals and newspapers

Listening to gospel music

Watching and playing social league soccer

Cycling

Spending time with my lovely wife and two daughters



Emvula said he would explain to his younger self that life is a marathon and that each person should run their own race at their own pace. His favourite childhood memory is building and playing with wire cars with his younger brother Simon and cousin Andreas. Finally, he aims to encourage young people to value education.

He quoted Nelson Mandela, who said: “Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world”.