I am Kofi Boahene. I am originally from Ghana.
I am the first of seven children and this is how my journey into medicine started.
By Ghanian standards, I came from a wealthy family but we lost that wealth
pretty quickly over a short period of time when there was coup in Ghana.
It was around that same time that I saw the faith in my parents and they became
really grounded in the missionaries and doing missionary work.
I grew up in a country that healthcare was a privilege.
I saw people and from the members die of
diseases that in this country is just a simple thing to take care of.
My uncle went into [inaudible 0:01:04] and never woke up.
I had a friend who had joined us for some different reason, was treated for malaria
died and so healthcare was a really big deal.
One of the things that motivated me to get into medicine is how I saw physicians to
come form abroad to Ghana to deliver care and the difference they have made in
people's lives.
We went straight from Ghana and we meet students from around the world excited for
our new opportunities and then we get on the train for a day from Moscow to cross.
We get accustom to our settlements for just a day.
Classes start the next day and I get call over the group of people.
I was just thinking somebody needs to know where I am and so I can get to safety.
I wasn't being mistreated but I knew I want where I supposed to be.
One thing I gathered from the experience of being taken from my classmates is just
strength and persistence and this followed me throughout my stay in Russia.
You don't give up easily.
For a foreign student it was almost impossible to get in to medical school.
I finished my pre-medical requirements in two years.
I gained admission to med school. I was excited about it and then two days
before we start school, I am told, you are a foreign student, we didn't know that
this is a state school, you can't come and it was a big, big, big disappointment.
I thought you know I got so close but maybe it wasn't mean to be so that
probably was the darkish moment and then there was the question how are you going
to pay for this. I knocked on every door.
It was more difficult than I thought so one day, I was just walking home from
school and my Chemistry professor was jogging by.
He sees me and says hi and said hey what are you doing next year.
I said I don't know.
So aren't you going to medical school? I said yes.
I got in but I can't find the money
and he said well do you have the forms for financially loan.
I do but I can't find somebody to co-sign for it and he told me to run home and get
the forms and meet me here. I run as fast as I could and met him back
at the junction and he got the papers and the rest is history.
It's been 1990 to 1999, nine years that I had not seen my mother actually and the
first time I saw her was actually at my graduation from medical school.
That was I mean very joyful moment for me obviously.
Not only was I graduated, I graduated the top of my class so definitely obviously
she was very, very proud and it was a moment that I could share with her
and with my dad.
So here I was in graduation they called me out, graduating fast, I got big award
so I come out. I gave them a big hug and then I repeated
those three words. I didn't recall.
Meaning I did it. I did it.
Now I find myself at the pinnacle of health care delivery, the top hospital in
the country.
I really have come falsetto. I am doing exactly what I want to do.