Treating infectious diseases in Nigeria inspired Femi Abimbade to a career in public health

Femi Abimbade brings a unique perspective to his role on the M Health Fairview Infection Prevention and Control team. He served as a general practitioner (GP) for 5 years in his native Nigeria and in the Commonwealth of Dominica in the Caribbean before making the switch to public health.

For years in Nigeria, Abimbade treated young children with preventable and communicable diseases in inpatient and clinic settings and worked with the African Union on projects to reduce childhood disease and mortality in Africa. His transition to an infection prevention role within M Health Fairview was largely inspired by this work.

We sat down with Abimbade to learn more about his continuing work in both Nigeria and Minnesota, and what Black History Month means to him.

What is your role at M Health Fairview?

I manage the infection prevention team for our outpatient clinics and post-acute care sites. When I get to work each day, it’s my job to make sure we’re following the right infection prevention recommendations and practices, and that we’re adjusting to all the different changes we’re seeing with the COVID-19 pandemic.

A big thing these past two years has been making sure our sites are following the most up-to-date recommendations on personal protective equipment (PPE). We also work to educate other staff members, answer questions, and clarify different procedures and practices around infection prevention.

What initially inspired you to work in healthcare?

Growing up in West Africa and seeing the impact of communicable and preventable diseases on African children ultimately shaped my career path and decisions. When you think about common communicable diseases which wouldn’t typically lead to death in Western countries, we’ve seen some of those infections shorten people’s lifespans in Nigeria and other countries in sub-Saharan Africa. A lot of these are illnesses can be easily prevented with improved access to good healthcare, clean drinking water, good nutrition, proper sanitation, and interventions such as vaccination and infection prevention.

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What has been your health career trajectory? How did you begin working in infection prevention?

I first trained as a medical doctor at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria, where I was an executive member of the Federation of African Medical Students’ Associations. We partnered with the African Union to look at how to reduce mortality rates in children under 5 years old – for example, how we could decrease the impact of diarrheal infections and prevent transmission of certain diseases from parent to child.

After this experience and my time in a clinical setting, I decided that I’d like to work more closely on prevention, and I switched to a career in public health. Another early experience I had working in public health was with the Pacific Northwest Regional Center of Excellence (PNWRCE) in Biodefense and Emerging Diseases, where I investigated the spread of infectious diseases in the field.

While I was in medical school and even now, I continue to work with different individuals and groups whose objectives are to decrease under-five mortality rates and decrease the impact of preventable infections in African children.

What motivates you to come to work each day?

The opportunity to make an impact within our organization. I’m always learning new things, and I enjoy working through the challenges that come with the job. I also work with an amazing infection prevention team. The quality of leadership we have on our patient safety team helps people engage with our pandemic response recommendations. They trust and come to us for guidance.

It keeps getting better as we also try to create more opportunity to explain those recommendations and clarify procedures. We’ve seen a lot of changes over the past two years, but we’re also seeing great understanding and adoption of safety measures. It’s incredibly motivating to see how we’ve been able to decrease infection transmission within our health system.

What advice do you have for people looking to start a career in healthcare today?

Understand where your passion lies. Work toward your goals and aspirations with dedication and perseverance. Understand that challenges will come and, when they do arise, learn to stay positive and maintain a sense of hope to face these challenges. Always remember, it’s important to be authentic and embrace your imperfect and vulnerable self.

What does Black History Month mean to you?

When I think about Black History Month, I think about a time to celebrate Black people and our accomplishments in the face of adversity and tough challenges. I think about a time we can celebrate our rich African heritage and culture. Most importantly, it’s a time we can come together and focus on the ongoing challenges around race and creating avenues to address these challenges as we keep working towards improving the lives of people in our communities.