Some people take years into their adult life to figure out what career they want to have. But Dr. O. John Maduko, academic dean at Rasmussen College in Land O’ Lakes, always knew what he wanted to be when he grew up.
It wasn’t a job at a college. He wanted to be a doctor.
“At an early age I just knew what I wanted to be, to go into medicine,” he said.
And that’s exactly what Maduko — now O. John Maduko, M.D. — became. And if not for some life-changing events, he might still be practicing to this day.
But when his fiancée Amanda was pregnant with their son, she developed a condition that prevented the use of her right arm and required surgery. Knowing she needed help caring for their child, and realizing that a 90-hour workweek wouldn’t be conducive to an ideal family life, Maduko left the rigors of the medical field for a career in academics where he helps others find and improve their career paths.
It might sound difficult to leave a position you love and had worked so hard to achieve. But for Maduko, it wasn’t a tough decision at all.
“It was easy because it was my wife and it was my son,” he said. “So it was a no-brainer.”
Family always has been a big part of Maduko’s life. A first-generation American hailing from California, his Nigerian-born parents set down rules from their hard-working culture that he and his younger siblings would follow growing up. That was to live life to the fullest, but always aspire to be educated and informed.
Expectations are high, and there’s no time for making excuses or becoming complacent. And when challenges occur, you face them and continue moving forward.
But while he’s moving forward with a career outside the medical field, Maduko hasn’t exactly hung up his stethoscope for good. You never stop being a physician, he said.
Maduko is involved in programs like Doctors Without Borders, a humanitarian organization that provides care and assistance in parts of the world that need it the most. He pursues efforts to improve medical conditions in Latin America and West Africa, and has future plans with his brother — also a medical doctor — to be involved in health care in the Tampa area.
Now, five years after leaving the medical field, he’s found a home with Rasmussen as academic dean at the East Pasco campus. But if that sounds like a radical departure from his chosen career, it actually has many similarities, Maduko said. He’s able to use his knowledge and expertise to help people find solutions to problems, provide valuable advice, identify paths to success, and search for ways to improve their quality of life.
But instead of possibly seeing a patient once, Maduko can now foster longer-lasting relationships with students.
Sometimes that means having difficult conversations. Like a medical professional dealing with patients, an academic dean needs to be able to provide honest assessments of a situation and outline realistic options and consequences. But, also like a medical professional, it needs to be done in a way that’s respectful and empowering.
“The key is to give them hope, to maintain their dignity, to give them respect, to be transparent,” Maduko said. “You never want to sugarcoat it, but at the same time, you want to inform in the way that at least they can take hold of what’s going on.”
While he helps students face and overcome challenges, Maduko’s had a few of his own. His wife regained function in her arm and they now have a 2-year-old daughter, Giuliana. But his son, Giovanni, now 4, was diagnosed with autism.
Like his father, Giovanni is growing up in a focused home where everyone is expected to accomplish as much as they can, with plenty of hard work and without excuses. And he’s rising to the challenge. Giovanni is on the high-functioning side of the spectrum, has a growing vocabulary, is adapting well to school, and is learning to express himself.
Maduko is motivated by his son’s drive and what he’s been able to accomplish.
“I look at him and he is an inspiration to me every day, because he doesn’t know anything else but to learn something, do his best, try and master it, and try to learn something else,” he said.
Maduko also is motivated to see what students and the college can accomplish together. He served as health science chair at Rasmussen’s Ocala campus before transferring to Land O’ Lakes to become academic dean about a year ago. Maduko was impressed with Rasmussen’s philosophy to empower its staff, allowing faculty to seek opportunities to improve the current way of doing things instead of simply adhering to whatever procedures are in place.
“They’re very innovative in terms of what can we do to improve our processes, improve the experience for students,” he said.
Part of improving that experience is interacting with those students and helping them find a successful path that works for their life situation and career goals. And when he speaks to them, Maduko uses the same philosophy he learned growing up, and the same mindset that has been successful with his own family: Don’t give up, and don’t stop moving forward.
“I tell students and I tell loved ones that I can’t promise you the win, I can’t promise you how much and I can’t tell you how tough the road is going to be,” Maduko said. “But I can promise you that if you put your hard work and your will and your dedication into something, you will reap the benefits.”
Published October 15, 2014
See this story in print: Click Here
