See 6 Nigerian Doctors Making Wave Abroad.

In recent times, some Nigerian doctors have projected the country into the limelight through tremendous feats that were seemingly impossible. This Doctors have earned the respect of their contemporaries in advanced countries. Here is a brief look at the feats of some of these high-achieving professionals Abroad.

#1. Dr. Oluyinka Olutoye

Dr. Oluyinka Olutoye is a renowned fetal and pediatric Nigeria-born surgeon based in Texas. In 2016, he successfully operated on a baby-in-utero. The mother, at the 23rd week of pregnancy, had gone for a routine ultra-sound and it was discovered that her baby had a rare birth defect known as sacrococcygeal teratoma, a large tumor located on the fetus’ tailbone. Olutoye led a team of 21 doctors to remove the tumor. The five-hour surgery involved removing the baby from the uterus for 20 minutes so as to remove the tumor and then placing the baby back into the womb for the remainder of the gestation period, after which she was safely delivered.

For this groundbreaking feat, Olutoye was appointed surgeon-in-chief at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in the US. He now leads one of the largest children’s hospital surgery departments in the world. In 2019, Olutoye was appointed professor and the E. Thomas Boles chair of the pediatric surgery at the Ohio State University College of Medicine.

#2. Professor Iyalla Elvis Peterside

Dr. Peterside is an attending neonatologist in the division of neonatology at Children’s Hospital and director of the intensive care unit at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He has worked in four continents including Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America. His expertise includes care of the neonatal patient, infection control with emphasis on catheter-related bloodstream infections, the use of ECMO to treat critically ill patients in respiratory and cardiac failure.

In March 2021, the Nigerian-born medical doctor was recognized as one of America’s best physicians of the year 2020 by the US National Consumer Advisory Board

#3. Dr. Njideka Udochi

Dr. Njideka Udochi is a Nigerian-born physician who became the very first black female to emerge as Family Physician of the Year in Maryland, United States. This award was bestowed on her by the Maryland Academy of Family Physicians (MDAFP) in 2021.

Dr. Njideka Udochi is known by her patients as a doctor who establishes a connection with each individual and strives to treat all her patients as if they are her family. She has reportedly worked with about 152,857 patients from Maryland and Washington, DC as well as patients from 114 countries around the world.

#4. Dr. Onyema Ogbuagu

Professor Onyema Ogbuagu is an associate professor of medicine in the clinician-educator track and director of the HIV clinical trials program of the Yale AIDS Program, Section of Infectious Diseases of the Yale School of Medicine. He was recently recognized as one of the researchers instrumental in the creation of the Pfizer vaccine for the infamous COVID-19 virus.

#5.  Dr. Bennet Omalu

Bennet Omalu is a Nigerian-American physician, who was the first to discover and publish findings on chronic traumatic encephalopathy in American football players while working in Pittsburgh. So profound was his discovery that his article was expanded into a book titled Concussion.

#6. Dr. Isioma Okobah

Isioma Okobah, in 2017, bagged the highest medical award in the US as the 2017 Prestigious Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians Award. The award is for practicing physicians in the US who have distinguished themselves among colleagues and in their community by their contribution towards the development of family medicine.

It cannot be overly be emphasized that Nigerians are very hardworking brilliant and creative people, who tend to make the best out of every opportunity available.