There have been a few requests by you, our readers, for more features in the healthcare space, and we are truly delighted to bring you this week’s interview with Kemi Ogunyemi, a pioneer in women’s healthcare in Nigeria. Read on for more on her education and professional background, why she chose to move back to Nigeria, her thoughts on the healthcare issues in Nigeria, how she is contributing to the solution, and other useful facts. We found her to be a truly inspiring lady and hope you feel the same way after reading this interview.
Thanks for speaking with us. Can you please introduce yourself and tell us what you do?
My name is Mrs. Kemi Ogunyemi and I am a woman’s health advocate with a nursing background. I moved back from the States about six months ago to set up a well woman health centre in Lagos designed to provide preventive health care services.
Have you always been in the US or did you leave Nigeria for the States?
I left Nigeria in 1986 and went to England with my husband. We had our three children and then moved to the US with my husband who wanted to further his medical career.
What made you leave Nigeria in the first place?
We left Nigeria to pursue our educational aspirations. We always intended to come back and certainly didn’t plan to stay away so long.
Please take us through your educational background.
I was born in England and came back to Nigeria when I was about five or six and had most of my schooling in Nigeria, studying nursing at University College Hospital in Ibadan. I then went to the University of Manchester for a degree in Health Service Management and afterwards, got a Masters in Health Care administration and a Masters in nursing from the University of Phoenix in Arizona.
Was a career in healthcare always your intention?
Yes. My dad was a magistrate and everybody in the family wanted to be a lawyer to take after our dad. My mum was a midwife and I decided to follow in my mum's footsteps and thankfully, I have thoroughly enjoyed it. My specialty is in cancer care and through the course of my career I have met so many people who I hope I have impacted and who have also impacted on my life as well and so, I have no regrets whatsoever.
And your professional background, please detail that?
I trained as a nurse and a midwife. I worked briefly as a family planner at the University teaching hospital Ibadan before I moved to the UK. Nursing is different in the UK and US. There is a lot more training and I gained a lot of skills and of course went further academically. I went from bedside nursing to being a director of a cancer unit.
In the UK and US nurses work as a team with doctors and other health professionals. I was in charge of my unit budget; I hired my own nurses and was part of committees involved in policy making and strategic planning. Cancer care has always been my passion. I obtained my oncology certification in the US. This certificate basically confirms ones nursing expertise in cancer care.
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