Mother and daughter graduate from med school together – now they’ll practice at the same hospital
Many of us have only just recently come to understand what doctors go through in order to practice medicine. But most of us still don’t know what it takes to get into the profession to begin with.
Good grades in the hardest courses, endless MCAT preparation, rigorous testing, medical school interviews, THEN medical school itself and the accompanying cost…and finally a residency where newly-minted doctors are matched to a specific hospital (rarely in a location where they want to live) to practice a specialty and learn more before beginning their careers.
When Cynthia Kudji immigrated to the U.S. from Ghana at just 17 years old, her dream was to go through this process and become a doctor. She was a senior at Tulane University studying for her B.S. in biology when she discovered she was pregnant with her daughter Jasmine.
She graduated, but the demands of medical school would have to wait.
However, a career would not. She raised her daughter while attending William Carey University to become a nurse instead. Then she got a Master’s in nursing at Loyola University in 2006.
She practiced as a nurse for a decade, but that didn’t quell her ambition to become a doctor.
Once Jasmine was grown, Cynthia decided it was time to go to medical school.
In the meantime, Jasmine herself had followed in her mother’s footsteps and was able to pursue her ambition without interruption. She attended Louisiana State University and majored in English while doing all of her pre-med coursework.
She went to medical school as well.
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“Growing up, I saw that being a physician was a position of service, and I really valued that,” Jasmine told NBC News. “I could see myself doing that from a young age.”
Cynthia attended the University of Medicine and Health Sciences on the island of St. Kitts while her daughter got her medical degree in New Orleans at Louisiana State University School of Medicine. They Skyped their study dates and pushed each other through difficult exams and other requirements.
“I think initially it was difficult because my mom and I have always been really close so I had to get used to the distance, we had to learn how to FaceTime and Skype each other, so we were Skyping each other every day and whenever I had struggles and she had struggles, we just had to learn to communicate from a distance,” Jasmine told The UMHS Endeavour. “But I think over time we figured it out.”
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But they won’t be apart any longer on their next step. Each doctor now needs to complete a residency where they will choose their specialty. (Depending on what a doctor chooses, they can spend another 2-7 years in this role.)
Cynthia has chosen Family Medicine as her specialty while Jasmine has chosen General Surgery.
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The surprise for both of them came on March 20 – on what is referred to as “Match Day.” This is when doctors find out which medical facilities have accepted them as potential residents. It’s a very competitive process and doctors get almost no say in where they end up unless they get accepted to multiple residencies.
But the mother-daughter duo found out that morning via e-mail that they had both been placed at Louisiana State University Health!
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This is among the first times a mother and daughter have matched with the same hospital after graduating from medical school at the same time.
The two are ecstatic about their futures and the privilege of being in the same place to get through this stressful part of their careers.
“We were so excited,” Jasmine told NBC. “Our life has never been planned, and you never know what’s going to happen. It was one of the best moments of my life.”
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The doctors will report to work on July 1, 2020.
Be sure to scroll down below to see their sweet and inspirational interview.
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Source: The UMHS Endeavour, @doctor.504 via Instagram, NBC News via YouTube, NBC News