Nancy Abu-Bonsrah Dr. | |
|---|---|
| Born | |
| Education | Mount Saint Mary's University |
| Alma mater | Johns Hopkins University |
| Occupation | |
| Known for | First black female neurosurgeon |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Neurosurgery |
Nancy Abu-Bonsrah is the first black female to be accepted to train as a neurosurgeon at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, [1] the school "where the medical discipline of neurological surgery was founded." [2] She was accepted to train there in 2017.
Abu-Bonsrah was born in Ghana and moved to Maryland when she was 15. She studied chemistry and biochemistry at Mount Saint Mary's University in Maryland. Then she went to Johns Hopkins University to study medicine. She is the first doctor in her extended family. [3] [4]
Her desire to study neurosurgery was the result of shadowing a neurosurgeon when she visited Ghana when she was a junior in college.
"Usually when I think about brain surgery, I think the brain is sacred and you don't touch it or do anything to it, but to see them do these remarkable surgeries, and have good outcomes was something that impressed me." She also noticed how "overwhelmed" the surgeons appeared to be, saying: "There were countless patients that they had to see and there are so few of them. I thought it would be nice to combine my interest in this field with an opportunity to provide service back to my country and other countries that don't have as much surgical infrastructure." [2]
She is married to Kwabena Yamoah, who received his M.D. from University of Maryland School of Medicine. Abu-Bonsrah identifies as Seventh-Day Adventist.
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The Johns Hopkins Hospital (JHH) is the teaching hospital and biomedical research facility of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1889, Johns Hopkins Hospital and its school of medicine are considered to be the founding institutions of modern American medicine and the birthplace of numerous famed medical traditions, including rounds, residents, and house staff. Several medical specialties were founded at the hospital, including neurosurgery by Harvey Cushing and Walter Dandy, cardiac surgery by Alfred Blalock and Vivien Thomas, and child psychiatry by Leo Kanner. Johns Hopkins Children's Center, which serves infants, children, teens, and young adults aged 0–21, is attached to the hospital.
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