University’s Medical School graduates first Somali student

[Sky]

University’s Medical School graduates first Somali student

- Thursday, June 09, 2005 at 00:15

 

Mohamed Ibrahim is the first Somali to graduate from the Medical School.

Ibrahim will soon start as a surgical resident at Hennepin County Medical Center

 

 

By Jerret Raffety

 

When civil war broke out in Somalia, Mohamed Ibrahim felt he lost his only chance of going to medical school in his home country.

 

More than a decade later, Ibrahim is half a world away and is accomplishing his dreams. In the process, he became the first Somali graduate of the University Medical School in May.

 

Ibrahim will start a residency to become a general surgeon at Hennepin County Medical Center later this month, he said.

 

Originally, he never counted on moving to Minnesota to attend medical school, he said. He had already been accepted to medical school in Mogadishu, Somalia.

 

Then, he said, he watched the nation erupt into violence and the U.S. Embassy, where he worked, evacuated in 1991.

 

“The whole country disintegrated,†Ibrahim said. “The violence was happening everywhere — there’s artillery fire that could land on your home.â€

 

As the streets filled with tanks and violence between rival clans escalated, there were fewer safe places for someone caught in the middle, Ibrahim said.

 

“You’d be trying to walk into a safe zone, where you think there’s no fighting, and someone with a gun would approach you and ask you which clan you belong to and could kill you right there and then,†Ibrahim said.

 

Ibrahim said his only option for survival was an escape to neighboring Kenya.

 

After a month on foot, cars and a boat, Ibrahim arrived in Kenya. His U.S. Embassy-issued identification was one of the things that made his admission into the African nation possible, he said.

 

He went on to work in Saudi Arabia for two years before returning to Kenya, where he learned about a program that allowed former employees of the U.S. government a chance to resettle in the United States.

 

Ibrahim said he was inspired to pursue medicine after witnessing a close cousin suffer from a leg injury because of an explosion and then suffer more from improper medical treatment, including a leg amputation without proper pain medication.

 

“Visiting him and seeing him in such pain was one of the reasons I thought, in my mind, there must be a better way,†Ibrahim said.

 

After arriving in 1993 in the United States, he found getting involved in medicine was more of a challenge than he anticipated, he said.

 

“I didn’t have anything to get into medical schools — not even a certificate that I’d graduated from high school,†Ibrahim said. “I had to write persistently to the State Department to corroborate that I had graduated from high school.â€

 

To pay for an undergraduate degree, he attended vocational school to learn to be a dialysis technician in Washington, D.C. and eventually got his associate’s degree in nursing at a community college in Maryland, where he met his wife, he said.

 

Using this training, he said, he worked full time while getting his undergraduate degree from Kennesaw State University in Georgia.

 

He did well on his Medical College Admission Test and was attracted to the University of Minnesota Medical School because of a partial scholarship and the close relationships between professors and students, he said.

 

He was also attracted to the Twin Cities because of the large Somali population, which he said is good for his wife and four children.

 

“(My children) will be able to maintain their American cultural identity while being exposed to Somali values, culture and language,†he said.

 

Mary Tate, director of minority affairs and diversity of the Medical School, helped recruit Ibrahim.

 

“He’s the type of person who is certainly a role model, not only for the Somali community but for others as well,†Tate said. “To balance going through four years of medical school, working full time and having a family is not a small task.â€

 

She said approximately 15 percent of students in most medical school classes are multicultural students, adding that she hopes Ibrahim’s example will encourage more minorities to apply to the Medical School.

 

Ismail Mualin, resident at the Medicine Education Office at the University, met Ibrahim three years ago.

 

“(Ibrahim) frequently makes time and is available to help others despite his own obligations,†Mualin said. “I think he’s a very intelligent guy who knows what he wants and is determined.â€

 

Source: MN Daily

 

 

 

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[STOIC]

^^^Thanks Sky for the info!.

Way to go Ibrahim!.Kennessaw State is a local state school here in Georgia.I guess those of us who are interested in the medical career have someone to look up to!.The guy took the non- traditional way(getting his nursing degree first) of getting admited to medical school and made it!.We can all see the daylight if we work hard.One thing that is interesting in medicine is that you are your own boss.The residency life is not fun since you are that scut monkey who runs the hospital 24/7.But when you finish the residency the sky is the limit!.

[Juxa]

well done to walaalkeen. i was happy to read that missing out his medical education in somalia did not deter him anyway whatsoever.

 

somalis who had the oppotunity to start their education in europe and north america have the chance, and if this brother can do and juggle fulltime work and family, they can too

[Jacpher]

Mubarook Mohamed Ibraahim! Waa akhbaar lagu farxo. Looking forward to see him in the twin cities area.

 

Did I misread the article or did it suggest that Mohamed Ibrahim is the first Somali to graduate medical school? I personally know another brother who just graduated last month and going to start residency in Mayo Clinic in Rochester. I was also told there're a dozen Somalis who are doing residency in the US.

 

MN Daily didn't get the story right or may be a printing error.

[Arwa]

Masha'Allah!

 

Such an inspiration. He did it while having a family. So proud of him

[Rahima]

Mashallah, even more amazing than graduating from medical school are the circumstances under which he did so- congrats to the brother and May he use his knowledge to benefit those who need it most. May Allah reward him for his perseverance and hard work.

 

Likewise congrats to his wife for I’m sure she was a monumental catalyst in his success.

 

Ducaqabe

 

The article is referring to a particular university.

[Haaruun]

Mabruuk Mabruuk...Also fahiima osman from Toronto Canada is another graduate....but 2 isn't enough, we need more faaraxs/xaliimos in this field

[checkmate]

^Haruun, here she is....Maansha allaah to both of them...We(somalies) have made it ...Alxamdulilaah yaa rab

 

 

The envelope arrived on a Tuesday, a sunny and hot June 4, 2000, just before 1 p.m. All the Osmans remember it: The day before, Fahima and her mother had gone to the end of their street in Markham, Ont., to the brown super-mailboxes, shoving the key into 10A slot with their hearts pounding, only to find it empty. They knew the mailman delivered just after noon. They knew McMaster University had sent their answer off on Friday. Fahima hadn't slept all night; she had borrowed a cellphone to call the long list of family waiting to hear. On Tuesday, her mom, Zahra, who considers herself "a lucky woman," insisted on being the one to open the mailbox and reach inside. It was a package so deliciously fat and bulging, they didn't even have to open it. There was no mistaking what it said. Screaming, Fahima tackled her mother in a hug and kissed her. Zahra started crying. Her daughter was going to medical school.

 

The next big date is May 14, 2004, when Fahima Osman will have earned the right to put two long-dreamed-of letters before her name. And in that moment, the Somali refugee - whose parents had no formal schooling, whose father nearly drowned trying to flee a life of poverty, and whose high-school guidance counselor once warned her not to aim so high - will become an original: the first Canadian-trained medical doctor in the country's largest African community.

 

 

 

asxantu

[Diamante]

Masha Allah Indeed. I always pictured how a Somali person would look like in those white garments, while watching ER on 4.

 

Best of Luck to them, and hope many more follow suit!

[SJ]

Mansha ALlah.

[raula]

Mansha-allah May Allah s.w. make them those that will benefit their people and true to thier religion(amin, and to all of us).

 

I met Mohamed before and many others that have graduated from MY SCHOOL(U of M, gopherville ) and they have done wonderful outreach to the somali community may Allah s.w. reward them.

 

From wat rumors has(those who work in HCMC and other area Minnesota hospitals)is that there are growing SOMALI doctors in MINNESOTA that any other state(ofcourse it makes sense)-and many incoming residents couple that I have seen, are straight from US med schools-kudos!

 

NB: I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE GOPHERS and U OF M Although an Alumni now, but Iam a true Maroon and GOLD reppin' for U OF M :cool:

[Suldaanka]

Fahima Osman goes to Somaliland and reports back of what she saw there.

 

---

 

Determined to help, FAHIMA OSMAN travels to her poverty-stricken ancestral homeland and finds signs of hope

 

Two years ago, Fahima Osman was featured in The Globe and Mail's New Canadians series as the first Canadian of Somali descent to graduate from medical school here. Back then, she hoped to divide her time between Canada and her family's ancestral home, Somalia's former northern province which has declared its independence. As these notes from her recent trip to Somaliland demonstrate, she is more dedicated to that plan than ever.

[king_450]

My hat's off for both of them and any other somali who is striving to succeed at any profession. I can't wait to join this venture in a short period of time, if fahima goes to north i will definetly try to help perhaps in the south even though i am skeptical about the safety out there ,but any medical graduate will take the following oath.

 

The Oath of Hippocrates

 

 

I SWEAR by Apollo the physician, and Aesculapius, and Health, and All-heal, and all the gods and goddesses, that, according to my ability and judgment, I will keep this Oath and this stipulation to reckon him who taught me this Art equally dear to me as my parents, to share my substance with him, and relieve his necessities if required; to look upon his offspring in the same footing as my own brothers, and to teach them this art, if they shall wish to learn it, without fee or stipulation; and that by precept, lecture, and every other mode of instruction, I will impart a knowledge of the Art to my own sons, and those of my teachers, and to disciples bound by a stipulation and oath according to the law of medicine, but to none others.

 

I will follow that system of regimen which, according to my ability and judgment, I consider for the benefit of my patients, and abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous. I will give no deadly medicine to any one if asked, nor suggest any such counsel; and in like manner I will not give to a woman a pessary to produce abortion. With purity and with holiness I will pass my life and practice my Art. I will not cut persons laboring under the stone, but will leave this to be done by men who are practitioners of this work. Into whatever houses I enter, I will go into them for the benefit of the sick, and will abstain from every voluntary act of mischief and corruption; and, further from the seduction of females or males, of freemen and slaves. Whatever, in connection with my professional practice or not, in connection with it, I see or hear, in the life of men, which ought not to be spoken of abroad, I will not divulge, as reckoning that all such should be kept secret. While I continue to keep this Oath unviolated, may it be granted to me to enjoy life and the practice of the art, respected by all men, in all times! But should I trespass and violate this Oath, may the reverse be my lot

 

It is deep isn't it. Anyway my time is about to end, but those of you who have no idea who was "Hipocratic" here is some hint.

 

Origins of Medical Ethics

 

Hippocratic Oath (400 BC)

Hippocrates is known as the Father of Medicine. Born in Greece (460 BC), he approached medicine and disease as something having a rational explanation rather than superstitious origins as was popular at that time. He pioneered many aspects of modern medicine that we take for granted; he accurately described the symptoms of disease, believed in preventative health practices, promoting personal hygiene and a good diet, and believed that the brain was the source of thoughts and feelings rather than the heart.

 

He founded a medical school and developed an Oath of Medical Ethics for physicians to follow. The Hippocratic Oath has formed the basis of more recent medical oaths taken by students as they begin the practice of medicine.

The chief tenants of this Oath are:

 

1- honor instructors in the medical arts

pass on the Art only to those bound by the Oath

2- practice for the benefit of patients; "do no harm"

3- give no deadly medicine or substance to produce abortion

4- enter homes for the benefit of the sick

5- abstain from mischief and corruption

6- doctor-patient confidentiality

[Shirwac]

Congrats...

 

Who do you think will benefit Somalia the best

A doctor, a politicians, an engineer, .... taxi driver?

[king_450]

All of the above dude.