the only black med student in her cohort, she's paving the way

one of selam ogbalidet’s most prized possessions is a drawing she made as a child when someone asked her what she wanted to be. it read, “selam wants to be a ballerina and a doctor.” it was the latter career that has always held true for her, and in august, she will enter her third year of medical school at the university of ottawa.she is the first of her family to attend university. she is also the only black student in her english-speaking class of about 120. shortly after george floyd was murdered by minneapolis police, she felt inspired to start an online platform for other students like her, aspiring or otherwise, and so @1stgenmd was born.“i want to share the tips and tricks i’ve acquired over the years throughout my own journey and essentially serve as a source of information and knowledge for students who feel like their high school or university isn’t able to provide those answers,” says ogbalidet. “if students have access to this info in a way that’s as freely accessible and transparent as possible, then they’ll be able to hopefully increase their odds. i just hope that there are more students able to find their way into med school who share my background. first gen, non-traditional black students who want to be the doctors of tomorrow.”previously, she had given talks to the association of black aspiring physicians (abap) at ottawa, so this was just a matter of taking that information online.

right now, her focus is on highlighting different aspects of med school applications. she recently posted about understanding the importance of grade point averages. she hopes one day she can expand the platform to include the stories of other first generation med students.with no physicians in her family, she was left to build that knowledge base on her own. she sees med school as a pipeline program, in that “no one wakes up in their twenties and just decides to become a doctor.” instead, there are a great many steps along the way to your md.unfortunately, sometimes the supports on that path are lacking. in ogbalidet’s experience, this meant that she never received advice from a guidance counsellor in high school, despite her academic achievements. sometimes it’s as simple as not being made aware of your options, like how she hadn’t known about mcmaster’s health sciences program until she got into med school in ottawa.the solutions, like with any issue of systemic proportions, would be multi-fold. part of it, ogbalidet says, should include a stream for aspiring black students in all medical faculties, akin to what the university of toronto already has. ottawa currently has a similar stream for indigenous students.another push for change, one that is being proposed and petitioned across many educational institutions, is mandatory anti-black racism training for medical students.issues of representation abound in many fields and industries, and medicine is no different. ottawa is not the only medical school with issues surrounding diversity. for the class of 2024, 24 black students were admitted to the university of toronto’s faculty of medicine, the largest in canadian history. in a variety of ways, that lack of representation has a very real impact on people’s lives that extends far beyond the struggle just to become a doctor.ogbalidet’s most potent example of such lack of representation was during the ob-gyn portion of her education. not once was it mentioned that black women are at a much higher risk of mortality than caucasian women, even when controlling for socioeconomic, educational and other factors. that’s something she found out in her own reading. canada does not collect race-based data, but in the united states, black women are three to four times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than white women.she also notes a lack of representation of skin of colour in dermatology curricula as another significant knowledge gap.“unfortunately, if there aren’t black admins and physicians and med students to advocate for such initiatives these are changes that will not be made,” says ogbalidet. “and if they aren’t made the health and safety of black patients will be compromised.”ogbalidet does not view her experience as a burden, but as a responsibility. she knew from a few black upper-year students in her network that she would likely be the only black student in her year, and she regards it as an opportunity to be the best version of herself each day. she also notes the support from her colleagues both in the classroom and in regards to her social media platform.“i think it also comes through by being in class and asking questions about how different concepts we’re presented with might pertain to the black community.” says ogbalidet. “i will be that person who asks those questions because it naturally interests me and because i wonder if i don’t ask this question, who will?”while she’s still got a ways to go, ogbalidet plans to specialize in plastic surgery because of her experience learning anatomy in school, what she calls the artistry and team-based aspects of the field, as well as the idea that it has gotten a bad rap from the general public.she lives by the words that her mentor in plastic surgery, dr. stanley labow, told her: “plastic surgery is all about restoring structure and function.”“what really makes me excited is that there are individuals who are actually undergoing face transplants, and to imagine what that means for that person and their family to give them their sense of personhood and humanity back,” says ogbalidet. “i can’t imagine a more fulfilling career than that.”