‘Something is missing. I still want to be a doctor’

By Patty Huston-Holm

Umutesi Agnes Vine is an oddity within the Uganda Christian University (UCU) School of Medicine. 

Her peculiarity is not just that at age 42, she’s the oldest student. But her academic and work background in information technology have made her a valuable commodity. 

“It’s not that I’m extraordinary,” Agnes said. “But I know how to study.”

In short, she knows how to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) in a smart, ethical way. 

“I took 2,000 pages and used AI to explain a concept to me,” she said. “For a classmate, I took a four-hour lecture recording with big medical terms and had AI break it down, and summarize it.”

Applying technology to science, chemistry and the practice of medicine is just part of the story for this mother of four – three girls, ages 10, 13 and 15; and a son, age 18, who recently finished high school with hopes to study at a West Virginia, USA, university. On a slight break from studies during the June 3 Martyrs Day holiday and between a Bible study and prayer time, she shared part of her journey and passion to be a medical doctor. 

Born to Rwandan Tutsi parents who migrated to Uganda due to conflict that included the 1994 genocide by the Hutu tribe, Agnes speaks English, the popular Ugandan language of Luganda and Kinyarwanda, which is the Rwandan mother tongue. The “Umutesi” part of her name means “pampered” child in Rwanda. 

She aspired to be a medical doctor since her childhood. However, her husband, who practices medicine in Sierra Leone, was concerned that the life of a doctor would infringe on his wife’s domestic and child-rearing responsibilities.  As they tied the knot when he was 27 and she was 22, he nudged her to a degree and career in technology.  

Though she dreamed of being a medical doctor, Agnes earned a first-class degree in Information Technology. In many African contexts, once a bride price is paid, there is often an unspoken expectation that a woman should prioritize home life over ambitious career pursuits. But for her, pursuing medicine was never about neglecting her family. It was about building a stronger future for them all.

Agnes successfully juggled her domestic, parenting and IT roles. She also worked at a 70-acre farm with 50 cows, commercial tree farming and a transport business. Despite her achievements, including the development of software that generated significant revenue for the Ugandan government and “making good money” at a job in Kenya, she knew something was missing. She felt the spiritual tug to do more than provide family income. 

The tug toward medicine was partially satisfied when she began volunteering with a Christian NGO. Through maternal health outreaches, she started ministering to the Batwa community in Bwindi. The experience opened her eyes to the depth of medical need in remote and underserved areas. For her, the work was not just humanitarian, it awakened the sense that responding to such need was a divine calling.

“Medicine and spirituality should be linked together,” she said, recalling that she was more convinced of her nudge to be a doctor after a conversation with a pastor in 2019 and again during a chance meeting with him in 2022. The final sign came when her prayers were interrupted by a phone call from a former primary/secondary classmate, Dorothy Tushemereirwe, who works at UCU.

“I told her I had not gotten peace,” Agnes recalled. “I should have everything I need, but something is missing. I still want to be a doctor.”

She shared her journey of pursuing medicine in Uganda, detailing the rigorous process of passing two exams to qualify for a medical degree. She explained that after passing the government and program-specific exams, she was ranked 40th out of 700 candidates but could not secure a spot at Makerere University due to limited places. Despite this setback and with an open door from Dorothy and then Dr. Gerald Tumusiime, UCU’s SoM dean, Agnes was able to enroll at UCU in May 2024.

An added plus was that the Christian organization where she volunteered offered to cover three-quarters of her tuition. It was a much-needed boost, especially after her husband withdrew his support from a fuel station business they had planned together. The shift was a turning point, reaffirming her decision to pursue a path she believed was both purposeful and deeply needed.

“I’ve been very blessed,” she said. 

When in school, Agnes begins her day at 4:30 a.m. with an hour of prayer, a daily habit that grounds and prepares her for the long hours ahead. By 8 a.m., she is in class at the UCU School of Medicine in Mengo, Kampala, with practical sessions running from 2 to 6 p.m. Most evenings, she stays behind to discuss the day’s content with fellow students and prepare for upcoming exams. She usually returns home by 10 p.m.

In her second year of the five-year Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery program, she is no longer seen as “too old” by her classmates. In fact, some, including a neighbor, a dental student, and a nurse, have become close companions and encouragers.

To make the demanding schedule manageable, she moved out of the family home, which was 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) from the city, and rented an apartment closer to the children’s school and the university classes in Kampala. The new arrangement allows her to reach school in just 20 to 30 minutes, an essential adjustment to balance academics, parenting and her spiritual life.

At that, on this June 3, 2025, national holiday, she doesn’t rest on any laurels. She instead is deep in Bible study and prayer. God, she asserted, is not done with her yet. Her life is no comparison to the Uganda martyrs executed for their Christian faith, but “He has given me a sign,” she said. 

On this 2025 martyrs’ commemoration, she is drawn to Isaiah 43.  

“I’m especially drawn to verse 19,” she said, quoting: “…See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland…”

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