Meet the two Doctor Kujis: Dr. Cynthia Kudji Sylvester, 49-years-old, and Dr. Jasmine Kudji, 26-years-old. In March, the mom and daughter duo made headlines for being the first mother and daughter that attended medical school in the same institution at the same time, according to the University of Medicine and Health Sciences in the Caribbean.
Both are committed to starting their medical careers on July 1 at the LSU Health system on July 1, despite the coronavirus pandemic. Kudji Sylvester shares how her worries level with a sense of commitment in knowing that this is what she and her daughter signed up for.
She adds that starting their medical careers at this time would be an excellent opportunity for them to learn about new disease processes and be a part of a solution that could genuinely help many. She concludes that it's all about perspective and what contribution they could give to society during this trying time.
She is one of nine incoming family medicine residents at LSU Health Lafayette, while her daughter will join ten others at the LSU Health New Orleans as a general surgery resident. The pair will be part of the same National Resident Matching Program.
Long Journey, But Definitely Worth It
Finally becoming a doctor was a 27-year process for Kudji Sylvester. She told TODAY that her dream had come true since she wanted to be a physician at a very young age. However, at age 22, she became pregnant with Jasmine, and everything had to come to a halt.
Prioritizing her family, she went to look for work and started out as a nursing assistant. She explains building her medical career from starting as a nurse and then becoming certified as a nurse practitioner. She describes how she thought about pursuing her dream of becoming a doctor when Jasmine was in college. At 43 years old, she enrolled at the University of Medicine and Health Sciences on the eastern Caribbean island of St. Kitts.
As for Jasmine, she says her journey to medical school was quite 'traditional.' It was something she always thought of becoming, since being exposed to the medical field at a young age because of her mother's job. Two years after her mother started medical school, she followed in her footsteps and went after finishing her undergraduate studies at the Louisiana State University in New Orleans.
Not everybody understands what people go through to become doctors, says Jasmine Kudji. She says she was fortunate to have her mother with her to share the hardships and triumphs of medical school with. She says they relied on each other throughout the entire process.
Black Women in the Field of Medicine
You don't see black women in the medical field that often, says Kudji. Even at the hospital where she'll start working, she shared that there's only one other African American female surgeon out of 50. In the 2019 report from the Association of American Medical Colleges, only an estimated 5 percent of doctors surveyed were identified as black or African Americans.
Kudji says that it's essential to make sure their stories are spread to reach out to young black girls who might have the same dream and let them know that someone went through the process and made a success story out of it. To make sure this is possible, Kudji explained that they made a blog to show their personal experiences.
In The MD Life blog, the Kudji doctors write about how to apply to medical school, the struggles they faced along the way, and other information that would be essential for others trying to get into medical school or a medical program.
