I am a Muslim and the fourth of five children. I attended Additrom Preparatory School, Akosombo International School mad finally ended up in the medical school of the University of Cape Coast. I also attended Rashad Islamic School.
I grew up in a Muslim community popularly known as a zongo where education just started gaining grounds. There were no doctors or lawyers or engineers or teachers for me look up to whiles growing up but I had parents who understood the value of education and it was their dedication, commitment and my hard work that saw me to and through medical school. I wanted to be a role model for the younger ones to look up to to help them make informed choices.
Growing up, I wanted to be a dentist because it was a dentist that brought a smile to my face after suffering for years with a bad dentition. Choosing to be a medical doctor came at a time when I had lost my younger brother, an active boy of 12 years. He wanted to be a doctor and I made a decision to live his dream for him and I have never regretted that decision.
Medical school was never easy right from the beginning till the end but I had to make my family and friends proud and I wanted to be that role model for the girls in my neighborhood so I never gave up on studying harder and giving my best even at the most difficult times.
I asked lots of questions in class, I made sure to be present for skills training, ward rounds, tutorials and other academic related gatherings. I also made time to go to the wards post rounds. One important aspect of medical school I would never forget was during the obstetrics and gynecology rotation. During the junior clerkship of that rotation in level 400, I tried my best so I could do well in the exam but when the results came out, the mark I got didn’t even see me to the first 10 in d class for that rotation. I felt extremely sad because I thought I deserved to have gotten a higher mark but that didn’t stop me from trying harder and during the senior clerkship exam of that rotation, I ended up being the only person in the class to have gotten Honors and I eventually got the awed for being the best student in obstetrics and gynecology.
Medical school is not easy but a lot of people have gone through it and are successful in their career. Never give up on trying because hard work pays off and if you think you cannot do it all my yourself, it’s okay to ask for help from your colleagues.
Source: uccsms.edu.gh
