Khadija Owusu: Ghanaian Doctor Named in UK's Top 10 Black Students' List
- The Ghanaian doctor has been named on the 2021 UK Top 10 Black Students' list
- She graduated from St George’s, University of London in the UK
- Khadija Owusu is the co-founder of Melanin Medic
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A student of Ghanaian descent, Khadija Owusu, has been named on the 2021 UK Top 10 Black Students' list by Rare Recruitment as she becomes a certified doctor.
The co-founder of Melanin Medic is living her childhood dream as she had always wanted to be a medical practitioner.
Nonetheless, she did not achieve the feat on a silver platter. Raised in a single-parent household with her mother and younger brothers, she attended a local comprehensive school until age 16.
Source: Instagram
Her mother worked as a part-time cleaner, and Khadija recalls finances were hard, one of her main motivations for becoming a doctor.
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She also cites watching her brother grow up with sickle cell anaemia, taking the family in and out of a hospital, and observing how hard the medical staff worked to deliver his care.
Meeting Michelle Obama
Khadija excelled throughout school, and in March 2012 was invited to the White House by Michelle Obama, for an inspirational essay she had written about her mother. There she met with the First Lady over five days to discuss effecting positive change as women, spoke with other black and ethnic minority women in power, and volunteered with a charity.
Rising to stardom
Returning to the UK, Khadija determined to achieve her goal of becoming a doctor. That same year she received the Women in STEM Award, presented by HRH Princess Anne.
Khadija also won a full scholarship to Ashbourne College sixth form, where she completed her A-Levels with A*A*A and secured a medical offer at St George’s, University of London.
In her third year of university, Khadija co-founded Melanin Medics, a registered charity, which works to increase the representation of African and Caribbean-descent students within the medical profession.
Over the years, the organisation has reached over 4,000 young people and boasts a 91 per cent success rate of supporting anyone who has interacted with them into medical school. They have a combined social reach of more than 10,000 followers and are the largest intergenerational association of Black medics in the UK.
Khadija Owusu has taken to her Instagram page to celebrate the achievement. She wrote:
''FINALLY a DOCTOR & NUMBER 5 - On 2021 UK Top 10 Black Students List!
''In 2015, I started this 6-year journey. The dream I had since I was a little girl has finally come to fruition and I thank God for all His blessings,'' she said.
She credited her mother for her support in the journey.
''Those of you who know me, know that it has not always been an easy journey however I didn’t do this alone. For my mother; a woman who is the epitome of hard work and more. Single-handedly raising [three] children whilst working several jobs just to make sure we are good, this is for her. For my younger brothers; one of whom forms a major part of my ‘Why Medicine’, I hope I have made you proud. And to my family and friends, the love and support [have] been amazing. I couldn’t have done this without you all.''
Woman graduates after falling pregnant in varsity, inspires SA with her story
A local woman has certainly left Mzansi feeling encouraged after sharing her heartfelt story of overcoming the odds. Although Yolisa Base did not get the matric results she expected and even fell pregnant during her university years, the young woman overcame her struggles to secure an Honours degree.
Heading to the popular student forum Varsity World the young woman opened up in the lengthy post. After not doing as well as she had hoped in matric, Base decided to upgrade her results.
"In 2015 I decided to go to Midlands Community College in Nottingham Road to upgrade those marks. I did that successfully, I upgraded my Mathematics from 49% to 72% and in 2016 I got a place to study a BSc degree at the University of KwaZulu-Natal," she writes.
Her struggles with maths and science certainly became a thing of the past because of her brave choice to hold out on university for one extra year.
"Mathematics and physics in varsity became so pleasant because I could fully understand what was going on."
Source: Briefly News
