By Tony Mushoborozi
Gloria Arinaitwe Ogwang fell in love with the UK in 2002 when she visited her two brothers, Justus and Gordon, who lived in London at the time. She was in her Senior Six vacation waiting to join Makerere University Medical School.Her teenage mind was blown away by how clean, modern and efficient everything seemed there. When she set off to come back to Uganda in time for commencement of her medical undergrad, the idea of living and working in the UK was hot on her mind.  Fast forward to her fourth year of medical school, Arinaitwe decided to do her medical electives placement at King’s College London in 2006. It only came naturally, really.“All fourth year medical students had to apply to train at a hospital of their choice during June to August, to work under the supervision of a medical consultant. I applied to King’s College London. I worked on the obstetrics and gynaecology department based at St Thomas’ hospital. I was intrigued at how medicine was practiced and taught in the First World,” she says.What she found out during those two months of internship was pleasantly surprising. There was a sharp contrast between the Ugandan medical landscape and that of the UK. She marvelled at the access to a vast number of medical investigations and treatment options for the patients. The fact that she could give anyone a fair chance at life and health in spite of how much money they had or who they were was a breath of fresh air.“I was also pleased to be in a country where I could get the best possible training, in an environment that was and is constantly evolving with new and upcoming data from ongoing research,” she says.The love factorThe two months at King’s College ended in a blink of an eye and Arinaitwe flew back to Kampala to finish her degree. But something had happened in those two months that cemented her resolve to live and work in the UK and made her urge to immigrate to England more imminent than ever before. Advertisement
“My then boyfriend, James Ogwang, was among the Ugandan medical students that had been admitted to King’s College together with me. He was as impressed by the medical field here and felt as passionate about achieving further training from the UK,” she says.  Arinaitwe had met Ogwang in their first year at Makerere University through their mutual friend, in 2002. The two had developed a deep and sincere friendship as they had so much in common.“Ogwang was always running a business of sorts at university to generate extra income,” she says.This affinity to business on his part reminded Arinaitwe of her own father who was a businessman. And on top of that, he always made her laugh.The two students started dating in 2004 after three years of deep friendship. When they met in King’s College London two years later in 2006, their mutual love for England brought them closer than ever.“He moved to the UK immediately after completion of our internship (first year of residency) in August 2008 to pursue his dream of qualifying and working as a dentist in the UK. I stayed and worked as a doctor at Makerere University Joint Aids programme,” she says.In August 2009, Ogwang flew back to Uganda and walked his college sweetheart down the aisle. One month later, Arinaitwe joined Ogwang in the UK.“It was difficult to leave my family and friends behind. Lots of people were against my relocating, they thought it would be very challenging for me living in a foreign land and they did not know anyone who had succeeded professionally, and in particular in the fields of medicine and dentistry in the UK. I walked in faith,” Arinaitwe says.Practicing in the UKAfter going through the endless assessments that every foreign-trained doctor goes through prior to being given a UK licence, Arinaitwe passed all of them on first try. It is not common place to pass these assessments on the first attempt.“Within six months of my arrival to the UK I had received my registration with the General Medical Council and had my licence to practice medicine,” she says. “My first year was spent working as a senior house officer in accident and emergency at a hospital in Redditch and various other London hospitals before switching to care of the elderly medicine in 2010,” she says.In 2012, following the birth of their first son, Daniel, Arinaitwe would realise that motherhood came with a lot of responsibility. So she decided to change from care of the elderly medicine to the much more flexible general practice (GP).“I applied to join the GP training programme in November 2013. I had to go through another three phases of examinations and interviews and once again God blessed me through the entire process. I passed and was offered a training post in general practice in Kent and embarked on this three-year journey in August 2014,” she says.Today, Arinaitwe is a general practitioner working in Kent, England, having finished her above-mentioned training in 2017. She’s a member of the Royal College of General Practitioners.While Arinaitwe and her husband continue to develop and grow their careers in the UK whilst raising their two sons, she says they have plans and intentions of returning to Uganda to put all these skills into practice and to train other practitioners where the need arises. But for now, the couple in their mid-30s are still taking advantage of their exciting opportunities in the medical world of UK.Covid-19 vaccinations forefrontAt the moment, Arinaitwe is at the forefront of the Covid-19 vaccinations in Kent. She’s involved in ensuring that her patient population receive the Covid-19 vaccinations as and when it is their turn to have it according to the national vaccination programme.“I go into the nursing homes and care homes to vaccinate the elderly and vulnerable patients as well as the staff. We also run vaccination clinics alongside other GPs to vaccinate as many people as we can,” she says.Early childhood and schoolArinaitwe was born and raised in Kampala. She’s the first born to Mr Fred and Ms Lilian Baketunga, both of whom are business people in the capital. She attributes her successes to the self-confidence that was instilled in her from childhood.“Growing up, they always told us how special we were. My parents were and still are my biggest fans and cheerleaders. My father and mother constantly praised me and my siblings for great accomplishments and would not hesitate to reprimand us for bad behaviour. I was not scared to try out new things and thought that I could achieve anything because my father and mother always told me that I was such a brilliant girl. And I believed it,” she says.They pushed us to work hard. Although we were privileged to have household staff, we were still required to participate in the housework and chores at home. My parents were running their own businesses and we saw through them the value of hard work and the rewards of success. During the school holidays we were each required to work at any one of their businesses. There was no place for laziness,” she says.Hers were well-to-do parents. And for that, Arinaitwe was fortunate enough to have attended Kampala Parents School from pre-primary to Primary Seven. She attended Namagunga Girl’s School for both her O and A-Level.“Both schools instilled a lot of virtues in me especially discipline, hard work and confidence,” she says.
