Top doctor’s career in cardiology inspired by father’s heart attack – The Nelson Mail

SAMANTHA GEE

Last updated06:43, May 17 2017

Marion Van Dijk/Fairfax NZ

Former Nelson College dux and Nelson Hospital registrar, Dr Thalib Mowjood.

Thalib Mowjood was home in Nelson for the summer when his father suffered a cardiac arrest.

It was a Sunday morning and his father had beenplaying the drums, when Mowjood, then a second year medical student,said the music suddenlystopped and there was a thud on the floor.

"I found him completely unresponsive, Istarteddoing chest compressions, the ambulance arrived and they shocked him back to life.

Marion Van Dijk/Fairfax NZ

Dr Thalib Mowjood was awarded the Royal Australasian College of Physicians Bryan Hudson medal.

The aspiring doctor already had an interest in the field, but said the experience doing CPR on his father left a "lasting impression" on him and piqued his interest in cardiology.

His father went on to have bypasssurgery and adefibrillatorinserted in his chest andrecovered well.

Several years on, Dr Mowjood is now working as a registrar in the Nelson Hospital cardiology department and has recently been recognised as being one of the best in the field with an Australasian award.

The former Nelson College dux received the highest marks acrosstheRoyal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) written and practical exams in adult medicine in 2016.

Mowjood was awardedthe Bryan Hudson Medal for thebest overall performance, ahead of more than 800otherstudents from across New Zealand and Australia.

He said his successcame down to a lot of hard work, fitted around his jobas a registrar at Wellington Hospital.

"There was a good 12-month period where really all I did was work and study with very little time for anything else.

"It was very challenging fitting in a full time job with lots of after hours work, night shifts and so forth, with a really demanding study schedule as well."

Mowjoodand his family moved to Nelson from Sri Lanka when he was six-years-old.

"I had fantastic teachers here in Nelson, teachersthat went the extra mile to support me in areas that I was interested in.

"They recognised my enthusiasm and encouraged it and extended it."

He said Nelson had been "very inclusive" and provided his family with an opportunity to flourish.

He was in intermediate school when he set his sights on a career in medicine. His grandfather was a doctor, as were several of his uncles and he found the work appealing for a number of reasons.

It was intellectually challenging,a well-regarded profession with the ability to make a difference in people's lives.

"I was struck by how much potential there is in this speciality to really save people's lives and transform people's lives, that is part of what appeals to me about cardiology."

Mowjood studied at the University of Auckland on a scholarship and returned to Nelson after graduating toworkin the emergency department before he felt the call of cardiology again.

He thenworked as a house officer in the cardiology department before moving toWellington to build up his experience in general medicine and prepare for the RACP exams.

He said he had never received an award of such calibre before.

"At medical school I'd say I was a good student, but I wasn't anywhere close to being the top student, so it was really many, many years of hard work that got me to getting to that prize."

Mowjoodis back working at Nelson Hospital as a registrar in the cardiology department. Having passed theexams, heis now able to start his advancedtraining to become a cardiologist.

-Stuff

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Top doctor's career in cardiology inspired by father's heart attack - The Nelson Mail