Meet Kunda Mwape | Medical Doctor, Global Arts in Medicine Fellow, Medical Illustrator & Digital Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kunda Mwape and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kunda, do you have some perspective or insight you can share with us on the question of when someone should give up versus when they should keep going?
There’s a a voice, a deep sense of purpose, that just gnaws at me. It makes me ask myself a question; “If I stopped right now, would I live the rest of my life never regretting that decision?”. The answer is always ‘no’.

So I persist.

For me, the decision of whether to push on or give up is ultimately about whether what you are doing is in line with what you truly desire, or if what you are doing will take you a step closer to what you desire. It is about asking yourself, “Is this what I truly want?”. If the answer is ‘yes’ then you better have grit and push on.

However, introspection about what you truly want is important and it is something we should habitually practice. It would be somewhat of a tragedy to bear the burden of hardwork for something you do not truly desire or find purpose in.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I always say I have been an artist from the time I could hold a pencil. I started out with doodling as a toddler. What first started as mere childish amusement quickly turned to somewhat of an obsession. I would sketch whenever I got the chance. My school books would be littered with drawings, a clear indicator that even as a small boy sitted in those classrooms, my mind would eventually always take me to pencil & paper. Growing up, I honed in on traditional art with a particular interest in pencil portrait drawings. I loved to draw people, I loved to capture their essence. By my early teens , I developed a love for story telling in my work. My artworks would always have a narrative; be it artistic representations of events in my personal life or depictions of the stories I’ve encountered around me.

Now, simultaneously, I’ve always had an interest in medicine. I grew up with a special needs sibling and I always thought to myself , “When I grow up, I’m gonna figure out how to heal her”. This started as an interest in biology and the inner workings of the human being. It eventually grew into the love for the medical field.

My two passions, art and medicine, always seemed like separate entities to me. For the longest time I never really saw the connection between the two. My first encounter of the interplay of art and medicine was through Dr. Frank Netter, Author of Netter’s Anatomy. He was a surgeon and medical illustrator, the first person I ever heard of to exist in both the clinical and artistic space.

My ‘eureka’ moment came through one day during my clinical rotations as 4th year medical student, when a lady with a condition called SLE (Systemic Lupus Erythematosus). This condition can presentation with a character rash on the face. The problem was, I had only ever seen this rash on Caucasian skin as all my medical textbooks seriously lacked representations of people of colour. So when I first saw that characteristic rash, I didn’t recognise it. Thankfully my attending pointed it out for me and told me he only came to easily recognise it through experience (and NOT through textbook imagery).
At that point, I thought to myself, “What if I created medical illustrations that representated people of colour”.

This thought lingered in my mind for a while, yet I never took action until I met Chidie. Chidiebere Ibe , as I am sure you know, is a world renowned medical illustrator all about inclusion in the medical space. We connected over our shared passions, and it was him who finally pushed me to take action. He showed me, through his work, what was possible. We would go on to have several collaborative works.

The journey has not been easy. But within me, the little boy who just wanted to create art and heal his sister still lives. So I push past all challenges to protect that little boy and ensure he lives out his dreams.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Well, honestly? I would probably just go see a tone of films at the cinema. I am such a cinephile. I would love to take them to some local museums too.

I am such a homebody too, if we could only have some tea and chat in the comfort of home, I would be satisfied. One may say I am rather boring, and one may be right.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would have loved to shout out Chidiebere Ibe ! But he already shouted me out so I don’t know if that works still.

Alternatively, I would shout out the book ‘Atomic Habits’ by James Clear.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr.kundamwape?igsh=djh5N3RtcW83dW11

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kunda-mwape-md