Johns Hopkins accepts first black female neurosurgery resident... and she's Ghanaian-born

Neurosurgery resident Nancy Abu-Bonsrah has made medical history.

As of March 17, which this year was “Match Day” in the medical community, Abu-Bonsrah is set to become the first black woman to be trained as a neurosurgeon at Johns Hopkins medical school.

Born in Ghana, Abu-Bonsrah immigrated to the United States when she was 15, and has been living in Maryland for the last 11 years. On the Johns Hopkins Hospital “Match Day” announcement website, Abu-Bonsrah said that she will be the first physician in her immediate and extended family.

“I am very much interested in providing medical care in underserved settings, specifically surgical care,” Bonsrah wrote.

“I hope to be able to go back to Ghana over the course of my career to help in building sustainable surgical infrastructure,” she continued. “I will be matching into neurosurgery, a field that I am greatly enamored with, and hope to utilize those skills in advancing global surgical care.”

Abu-Bonsrah will begin her residency next year.