Dr. Jacob Alpha
866 posts
@JacobAlpha2
Saved by his blood. MBBS.
🇳🇬Nigeria, how do we begin to make up for the loss of our wonderful doctors, whether through relocation or untimely death?
I wanted to take some time to celebrate my wife today. She is the usual quiet and non-social media type (and yes two opposite married). Today she matched into the Internal Medicine residency program and by the special Grace of God will be an internist in the next three years. But the journey didn’t start today. It’s being a rollercoaster ride; the ups and downs and she is the perfect description of “when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade with it.” She has mastered that art. In 2016, we had just started dating when she took the decision to go back to med school in Nigeria on completing a degree in Nursing from Ghana. It was a tough choice giving that we had just started our love journey. I had always told her time is going to pass by quickly. But it was not that simple. At Bingham University where he started med school, she was admitted into the second year class given her background as a nurse and was projected to finish in 5 years, but 5 soon became 6 and 6 became 7. Which is something most Nigerians experience with periodic strikes and other administrative challenges. Three years into med school, I moved to the USA and although we were already doing distant relationship, it felt like the distance had widened. Very tough, but she remained strong and God always showed up. At some point, we just made the decision we weren’t going to pause life because we were each developing our careers and so we got married in the middle of the COVID-19 outbreak (another story for another day). It was exciting at least to be bonded in the sacrament of Holy Matrimony. And you won’t believe what followed? Yes, she became pregnant with our first daughter. The initial excitement of getting married and finding out we were going to be parents soon faded as I had to return to continue with my doctoral studies. So here she was studying for her medical degree (anyone who’s been there knows how tough this is) and now she has to deal with a pregnancy which was marred by hyperemesis and my absence through out the pregnancy period. At some point she had to move out of the student hotel into a private residence which was about 4 miles from the university. But that also came with not just the challenges of staying by herself and trying to get to school everyday, but there was (still is) growing insecurity in Plateau State Nigeria where kidnapping was a business and Islamic insurgency was on the increase. I believe I am not able to completely explain how it felt like for her, but she pulled through and we welcomed our first daughter in last quarter of 2021. Thanks to the many family members, friends, and our beloved nanny who showed up for her (us) during and after the pregnancy. I believe that made a lot difference. But the journey didn’t end there. Moving to the US was tough. She had just finished med school and had no time to do housemanship (internship) or national service and little experience in medical practice. Then again, she was very determined to make things work. In 2024, she registered to write the step 1 of the US board exams and whilst preparing , she took on some volunteering and shadowing duties. In the end, she aced the step 1 and started preparing for step 2 that same year, but as God will have she became pregnant with our second daughter. Once again a very difficult pregnancy and we decided she took a break, stay home and just rest for the duration of the pregnancy. Many things happened in between, but once we welcomed our daughter last year, she was determined to be ready to apply into residency in September 2025. She had just three months to read through every material and helping with the newborn. And it all happened seamlessly. In quick successions, she passed step 2, wrote OET, took on more volunteering and externship roles and prepared her application documents (another story for another day). #Match2025
