By Monique Jones
The Birmingham Times
Nancy Abu-Bonsrah has become the first black female neurosurgeon accepted to Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
Abu-Bonsrah was informed of her historic placement March 17, known as Match Day, when fourth-year medical students find out where they will continue their training. Johns Hopkins’ program, ranked second in the country, only accepts two to five residents a year.
Abu-Bonsrah, a native of Ghana and a graduate of Johns Hopkins medical school, told USA Today that she couldn’t believe that she was making history.
“It was a realization that dawned on me after all the hype,” she said. “I asked some of the senior residents, ‘would I be the first [black female resident]’ and they said I would, but I still couldn’t believe it.”
Abu-Bonsrah said her acceptance into the program was “a humbling experience.”
“It’s not something I expected to happen. It provides a lot of responsibility…to mentor other minorities.”
Abu-Bonsrah hopes to use her medical knowledge to help her home country.
“I am very much interested in providing medical care in underserved settings, specifically surgical care,” she said in a statement. “I hope to be able to go back to Ghana over the course of my career to help in building sustainable surgical infrastructure.”
Johns Hopkins, CNN, and USA Today contributed to this post.
