21-year-old emerges best graduate as Nigerian university inducts 80 new doctors

The Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University College of Medicine on Tuesday inducted 80 graduates into the medical profession.

Lawrence Ikeako, a professor and dean of the College of Medicine, presented the successful new medical doctors to the Medical and Dental Council Association of Nigeria (MDCAN).

Mr Ikeako said that the graduands had obtained all the training and fulfilled all the requirements for becoming qualified medical doctors.

He stated that COOU Medical College would continue to produce high-quality professionals, while also calling for collaboration with the private sector.

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“We need your support to enable the institution to carry the capacity approved by MDCAN,” he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Chioma Njelita, 21, emerged the overall best female and the overall best graduating student.

She finished as the top student in pharmacology, pathology, obstetrics and gynaecology, community medicine, paediatrics, and internal medicine, and shared the top prize in surgery.

JohnPaul Nwankwo and Cajethan Egbosimba shared the top positions in anatomy. Egbosimba won the award for best student in biochemistry, while Nnamdi Onwuegbusi received the top prize in physiology.

Advice for the new doctors

In his convocation lecture, Emeritus Professor Joseph-Ifeanyi-Brian-d Adimma urged the inductees to uphold the ethics and values of medicine in their relationship with patients and colleagues.

Mr Adimma cautioned them against taking risks with people’s lives and ensuring they had competence for whatever they wanted to do.

“Treat patients with confidentiality, respect their privacy and tell them the full truth at all times and do not relate with quacks,” he said.

In her speech, Kate Omenugha, the vice-chancellor of COOU, congratulated the new doctors and urged them not to rest on their laurels, but to endeavour to advance their careers.

Mrs Omenugha, a professor and mother of two medical doctors, urged them to justify the investment in them.

She said that COOU now had 240 against 100 slots for new intakes and announced an automatic Housemanship slot for the top five best graduates.

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Speaking on behalf of her colleagues, Njelita appreciated God for graciously leading them through the journey, as well as their parents, families, and sponsors for their support.

“Thank you a million times for your love, sacrifices and prayers which carried us through the longest nights and the toughest exams.

“You are our first teachers in compassion, and this achievement is as much yours as it is ours.

“Becoming the best graduating student with seven distinctions is a huge win for me and for everyone who has invested in me, including my parents, my teachers, my mentors, my friends and this institution,” she said.