A Nigerian medical student has made history at Siberian State Medical University.
GhanaWeb tells the story of Justin Chukwudi Olewuezi, originally from Enugu, who is the first Nigerian student in the Siberian State Medical University’s history to get a medical doctor’s degree.
Olewuezi’s story started at the Air Force Comprehensive School, where he graduated with high marks but couldn’t get into a Nigerian university.
“I had always wanted to study abroad and obviously make something of myself back in Air Force comprehensive school, Enugu. So after failing to gain admission twice even with JAMB scores 247 and 260 respectively, I decided to study abroad. So after talking with a Russian-trained medical doctor, (Dr. Okere, then a medical student), I decided to go for it,” the Nigerian medical student said to the outlet.
The Siberian State Medical University is a medical school in the town of Tomsk, Russia. It was founded in 1878 under the decree of Emperor Alexander II, and is the only flagship medical university in Russia. It has more than 6,500 students that come from nearly 40 countries all over the world, but Olewuesi is the only Nigerian student in the school’s history.
The Nigerian medical student says that he experienced both “nice and not-so-nice” experiences while in Russia, but he ultimately credits his mother for his career path. He says he hopes to become an oncologist in the near future.
“I was in a Technical/science class back in Air force comprehensive school, but I later understood that engineering wasn’t for me (I wasn’t really into mathematics and further maths), so when it came time to fill in my JAMB form, I decided to go for Human anatomy,” he said. “I sought my mother’s advice, and she said why not go for medicine, that I shouldn’t be scared of anything. I was scared of the competition though. And ever since then I’ve been thinking about becoming an oncologist.”
