Wise men and expert psychologists frequently demonstrate the importance of pursuing your goal early on, regardless of the challenges ahead. Dr. Sendegeya will bear witness to this, as he received his doctorate at the age of 28.
Dr. Sendegeya Augustin is one of Rwanda’s most well-known experts in the field of Otorhinolaryngology, which treats diseases of the ear, nose, and throat.
He is currently the Chief Medical Officer at King Faisal Hospital, where he oversees all clinical operations.
Sendegeya graduated from the University of Rwanda (then known as the National University) with a degree in medicine in 2002, after which he worked in various hospitals, including the University of Butare.
After four years of practice, Dr. Sendegeya moved to South Africa to further his studies, where he stayed for five years. He returned with an Otorhinolaryngology specialty.
Dr. Sendegeya was born and raised in Burundi, where he attended primary and secondary school due to the country’s history.
In a recent interview, he stated that he dreamed of becoming a doctor since he was a child.
When he was a child, he was treated by a particularly unpleasant doctor.
When patients misbehaved, the doctor, who was a dentist, would not hesitate to hit them; he had no patience.
“We all know how it is when you go to have your teeth extracted; when children started crying, he would hit them and proceed to pull out their teeth,” he explained.
The doctor’s behavior made Sendegeya wonder how a doctor with such a rude and terrible personality could exist.
When Sendegeya met another doctor who had the opposite attitude as the first, his desire to study medicine was reignited.
“I used to wonder how a doctor could hit his patients, but one day I was treated by a different doctor, the kind who first speaks to you, comforts you, and inserts the needle before you even realize it.”
He did cry at the time, but the doctor comforted him.
“The doctor gave me a book about soldiers.” “I was ecstatic because I loved drawing them,” he explained.
Sendegeya claims that he began primary school at the age of five due to his love of learning, and that even his parents were surprised at how quickly he progressed from one grade to the next.
“At the time, we didn’t have kindergartens, but because my parents taught in primary school, I started school at the age of five,” he explained.
“At the time, I wasn’t even registered, but because I was doing well, they decided to let me study and move up to other grades with other children my age.”
Sendegeya kept going at this rate, and he graduated with honors.
Following the Genocide against the Tutsi in 1994, his family, like many others, returned to Rwanda, where he continued his medical studies at the then-National University of Rwanda.
Despite the fact that studying medicine is difficult, Dr. Sendegeya claims that there was never a day when he felt he could give up and abandon his goal and purpose.
“I am fortunate that I never decided to quit and do something else; even though I am now working in administration, I am still working in my field,” he said.
The spirit of the young Sendegeya has never left him. He still claims that medicine is something he loves so much that he spends far more time with patients than with anything else.
“I used to spend a lot of time talking with patients, which annoyed some people, but I don’t believe that medicine is the only cure.” “Building trust between you and your patients is a cure,” he said.
Dr. Sendegeya says he is where he is today because of his hard work and the advice he received from his parents.
“They taught me to work hard, to always strive to be the first, to be honest, and to pray a lot,” he explained. “Knowing that fulfilling my purpose required hard work helped me in life,” he said.
Sendegeya believes that if you want to achieve your goals, you must start early.
