Felecia Christian has known since she was 12 that she wanted to pursue a career in medicine.
The 17-year-old has worked summers at Chrissie Tomlinson Memorial Hospital since 2003, helping at patient check-in. Since the beginning of September, she has been taken on as a full-time medical office assistant at the hospital.
Over the years, whenever she had free time, however, Ms Christian would pursue her first love – taking care of children.
She started by following Dr. Steve Tomlinson around on his rounds, and then she began to focus on the younger patients.
‘I would shadow Dr. T and watch doctors examine patients, just the things we were allowed to see. I would mostly follow the paediatricians,’ Ms Christian said.
For the last two years, she has, on her own time, been assisting Dr. Ramon Lacanilao as he has looked after children at his clinics at the hospital.
‘Even when she was in high school, she was here observing. She’s helped me out in some cases, in both paediatrics and maternity, and even taken blood from babies,’ he said.
Ms Christian has considered other service-oriented careers and even taken a course in hospitality at the University College of the Cayman Islands.
‘I like helping people and I learned about customer service,’ she said.
But medicine remains her first choice. Both her dream and ambition is to become a paediatrician herself, though right now she is looking at studying midwifery first.
‘I want to attend the University of Miami to study midwifery and then transfer to Howard University to the medical school to become a paediatrician.
‘I know it’s an unusual combination, but I like to take care of babies. I love children. I want to be there for the birth and then take care of the baby as it grows,’ she said.
She recalled one baby in particular who she helped clean and weigh after he was born.
‘Now he is more than 1 year old. I know him and call him by name when he comes in,’ Ms Christian said.
Her love of children is demonstrated by the efforts she makes to help the young patients feel at ease.
‘She brings them lollipops and stickers, and plays with the babies,’ Mr. Lacanilao said.
‘I also wear shirts with cartoon characters on them to make the kids feel more comfortable,’ she added.
Mr. Lacanilao cited her drive and determination as key to her future success.
‘She can deal with pressure and she can work well with anybody,’ he said.
Not only has she helped doctors treat youngsters but she has also been able to observe four caesarean sections that were performed at CTMH.
Ms Christian has made a positive impression on other staff at the hospital. Judy Ebanks, director of human resources, is enthusiastic about the young woman’s future.
“Healthcare is the perfect career choice for Felecia. She has a very personable, pleasant manner with the patients and is always willing to help.
‘She is an intelligent young woman and I look forward to seeing her become one of our Caymanian midwives,” Mrs. Ebanks said.
Though she is working fulltime now, she will continue to further her education, taking night classes for a year starting in January for an associate degree in natural sciences at the University College, while earning money to attend school in the US.
She also hopes to travel some day, but the trips would not just be for fun.
‘I would like to travel to Africa and help the kids there, knowing how fortunate you are and they barely have clothes on their backs,’ Ms Christian said.
In the long term, though, her vision is to practise here.
‘I would come back to work for Cayman. I’ll have my office covered with baby pictures,’ she said.
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