Fidelis Jacklyn Adella, M.D. : Young, Intelligent and Humanist Woman

3/8/2022 12:00:00 AM

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Graduating from the Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia in 2017, Jacklyn continued her studies at Oxford University. Studying abroad is a noble task, she will return to Indonesia to improve the quality of life and health of the nation.

 

Enriching knowledge for herself to help many people, this meaningful sentence describes Fidelis Jacklyn Adella, alumni of S1 UNIKA Atma Jaya from the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FKIK) in 2017. From 2021 until now she is pursuing her further education at Oxford University, London.

 

Like most people in general, the woman who is familiarly called Jacklyn also went through a long process of searching and finally finding her ideals for her future. Entering college and being a student at Unika Atma Jaya made her desire to become a doctor even stronger.

 

 

“During my undergraduate studies at Unika Atma Jaya, the support from the campus made me feel comfortable and active as a medical student. From the beginning, before entering college, I believed that FKIK was one of the best in Jabodetabek,” she said.

 

Sure enough, Jacklyn is an active student in organizations and participates in many activities. She also participated in Asian Medical Students’ Association (AMSA). According to her, learning is important but participating in supporting activities can help her gain practical knowledge and engage directly in developing soft skills.

 

“The soft skills that I have gained include teamwork, leadership, public speaking, self-confidence, and other experiences. I am also part of the management in the AMSA organization and am trusted as the head of the organization or representative,” she added.

 

Like life‘s calling, Jacklyn becoming a doctor is not without reason. She has more attention on public health in small and conflict areas. She has a dream to join Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) or a cross-border medical association that serves humanity in areas prone to conflict, epidemics and need special attention to areas of potential pandemics such as Ebola.

 

Now she has a wide network so she knows many doctors in various countries such as Hong Kong, the Philippines, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, and other countries thanks to her activeness in organizations and activities during college. Jacklyn‘s satisfaction did not stop at that place, in 2014 she received the Achievement Student Award (Mawapres) for her outstanding academic values.

 

However, it is undeniable that during the lecture process, she felt tired during her activities at the hospital. For a whole day, she spent her time there until it was her turn to stand guard on the night shift. She also has to be smart about dividing the time for breaks so that Jacklyn rents a boarding house near the campus to save time on the road and get more time to rest.

 

 

Every experience and journey of studying at Unika Atma Jaya makes her more mature in achieving her dream of becoming a doctor. While remembering the moments that had passed, she seemed to want to remind herself when she was active as a student at Unika Atma Jaya.

 

“Focus, focus, and focus. I feel that time outside of college life can be used to revise learning materials or carry out organizational activities. It‘s better if I focus on listening and understanding when class is in progress, it minimizes revisions that take place outside of lecture hours," said the MSc candidate in International Health and Tropical Medicine at the University of Oxford.

 

Sumba Makes Dreams More Real

Known to be persistent, her desire grew stronger when Jacklyn studied at Unika Atma Jaya and got the opportunity for an Internship in the Sumba area, NTT. For 3.5 years, this young, intelligent, and humanist woman was able to face challenges and difficulties while in Sumba. She made all experiences a motivation in healing the people in Sumba better.

 

Not only that, she shared her experience when she went to Sumba as a doctor after graduating from Unika Atma Jaya. She continued her profession as a doctor for one year through the Indonesian doctor internship program required by the Indonesian government. In contrast to many medical graduates who want to do internships in big cities, she has long chosen to become a doctor in poor areas. She underwent this program from September 2017 to 2018.

 

 

Joy and sorrow accompanied her steps. Difficulties and challenges made her more persistent in serving at a health center and hospital in the Sumba area,  where at that time many pediatric patients had pneumonia and needed emergency and fast treatment. At that time, medical equipment was still lacking and a minimal handling system became an obstacle.

 

One example is when she treats a patient with a head injury, the patient needs to undergo a CT Scan to find out where the bleeding is and what follow-up the doctor should do. However, at the hospital where she worked, there was no CT scan. This makes patients who need a CT scan must be sent to a city that is approximately 4 hours away.

 

This further encouraged her to enrich her knowledge for the sake of totality in helping to heal the community. Feeling the need to work outside the hospital, after completing the internship program, she continued to work in Sumba at an NGO that focuses on malaria control and other public health programs.

 

Every difficulty and challenge that exists; has made her enthusiastic to continue to focus on treating and curing patients in Sumba. Her aspiration to become a doctor in a deprived area continues to motivate her to learn more ways to treat patients. In fact, after completing her studies at Oxford University, Jacklyn plans to return to Sumba to continue her experiences and dreams as a doctor in the region.

 

“Don‘t be afraid to chase your dreams! Confusion is temporary rather than just being afraid to start. Like the purpose of life, after finding each other, don‘t give up easily and stop pursuing your goals. Enjoy every process of finding your dreams, you will get the best,” concluded Jacklyn while encouraging everyone.

 

Fidelis Jacklyn Adella, M.D.

Alumni of FKIK Unika Atma Jaya 2017 - MSc Candidate in International Health and Tropical Medicine 2022 University of Oxford