A Nigerian, Tinuade Okoro, has emerged the best graduating medical student in Ghana, in the process, scooping 16 prizes at the University of Ghana, Legon.
The prizes won by Tinuade included the Ghana Medical Association prize for the Best Overall Student in the MB Ch. B Final Part II examination; prize for All Round Best Student, sponsored by Ghana Health Service, and the Society of Obstetrics and Gyneacologists of Ghana prize for Best Student in Gyneacology as well as the R.K Obeng prize for Best Student in Clinical Pharmacology. Others prizes won by Dr. Okoro are the Nana Preko Ampem II prize for Best Student in Clinical Obstetrics and Gynaecology; Archeampong prize in Surgery and Harry Sawyerr prize in Medicine and Therapeutics among others.
In a letter dated February 28, 2013 and signed by Mrs. Selie Ama Baiden of the office of the Ag. Executive Secretary, Office of the Dean, College of Health Sciences of the University of Ghana Medical School, the school invited her to its congregation/swearing-in-ceremony for newly-qualified Medical Doctors scheduled for March 23 at the Athletic Oval, University of Ghana, Legon.
Born Tinuade Olukemi Okoro and brought up in Jos, Plateau State, Tinuade’s parents are from Ondo State.
Her father, Mr. Benjamin Oyedele Okoro, is a retired civil servant while her mother, Mrs. Omotayo Yetunde Okoro, was a nurse until her untimely death in 2004- a woman she described as being of “exceptional humility, simplicity and grace”.
Tinuade began her primary school education in 1993 in Plateau Private School, Jos, continued in Rantya Model School, Jos and ended in Camp David Nursery and Primary School, Lagos. She attended Federal Government Girls’ College, Akure from 1998-2004, following which she completed some computer training while awaiting admission into the university.
She resumed at the University of Legon, Ghana in 2006 and was admitted into the University of Ghana Medical School (UGMS), Accra in 2007.
Attributing her feat to God’s mercy and hard work, she said: “Structured learning also helped. You cannot just keep reading without a map, hoping to one day finish the material, you never will if you do not plan to!
“I was told when I began medical school that one should be grateful for a pass. While that may be true and I certainly got a number of passes, I decided that was not enough for me. I think one owes it to oneself and one’s Creator to aim for the highest available honor. That credits and distinctions exist means they are attainable.
“I know that life can be so difficult it is easy to slip into survival mode but there are enough potential limiting factors in this life without one adding a vote of no confidence in one’s own self to the list! A person has to be his own greatest cheer leader.
“How I worked hard for 16 prizes? Again, I know this sounds clichéd, or even falsely modest, but it is the truth. God helped me, plain and simple. I know there are really gifted people who probably could have done it ‘on their own’, but I know where my strength comes from. He blessed me with a good mind, memory, and tongue. He helped me grasp information easily, retain and apply the knowledge accurately even after long periods.
