Awka: Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University (COOU) has inducted 80 new medical doctors, with 21-year-old Chioma Njelita celebrated as the overall best graduate after earning seven distinctions across core disciplines.
Prof. Lawrence Ikeako, Dean of the College of Medicine, presented the successful new medical doctors to the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCAN).
Ikeako said that the graduates had completed all training and fulfilled all requirements to become qualified medical doctors.
He said that COOU Medical College would continue to produce quality professionals and called for private-sector collaboration.
“We need your support to enable the institution to carry the capacity approved by MDCAN,” he said.
Miss Chioma Njelita emerged as the overall best female and the overall best graduating student.
She finished as the best student in Pharmacology, Pathology, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Community Medicine, Paediatrics, Internal Medicine and shared the top prize in surgery.
Dr JohnPaul Nwankwo and Cajethan Egbosimba shared the top positions in Anatomy. Egbosimba won the best student in Biochemistry, while the top prize for Physiology went to Nnamdi Onwuegbusi.
In his convocation lecture, Emeritus Prof. Joseph-Ifeanyi-Brian-d Adimma urged the inductees to uphold the ethics and values of medicine in their relationship with patients and colleagues.
Adimma cautioned them against taking risks with people’s lives and ensured they had the competence to do whatever they wanted.
“Treat patients with confidentiality, respect their privacy and tell them the full truth at all times and do not relate with quacks,” he said.
In her speech, Prof. Kate Omenugha, the Vice Chancellor of COOU, congratulated the new doctors and urged them not to rest on their laurels, but to endeavour to advance their careers.
Omenugha, a mother of two medical doctors, urged them to justify the investment in them seriously, given the effort they put in to bring them to that stage in life.
She said that COOU now had 240 slots, up from 100 for new intakes, and announced an automatic Housemanship slot for the top five graduates.
Speaking on behalf of her colleagues, Njelita, daughter of Dr and Dr Mrs Chukwudi Njelita, appreciated God for graciously leading them through the journey, as well as their parents, families and sponsors for their support.
“Thank you a million times for your love, sacrifices and prayers which carried us through the longest nights and the toughest exams.
“You are our first teachers in compassion, and this achievement is as much yours as it is ours.
“Becoming the best graduating student with seven distinctions is a huge win for me and for everyone who has invested in me, including my parents, my teachers, my mentors, my friends and this institution,” she said.
