The Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University College of Medicine on Tuesday inducted 80 graduates into the medical profession.
Prof. Lawrence Ikeako, Dean, College of Medicine presented the successful new medical doctors to the Medical and Dental Council Association of Nigeria (MDCAN).
Ikeako said that the graduands had obtained all the trainings and fulfilled all requirements for becoming qualified medical doctors.
He said that COOU medical college would continue to produce quality professionals while calling for private sector collaboration.
“We need your support to enable the institution to carry the capacity approved by MDCAN,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria ( NAN) reports that Miss Chioma Njelita emerged the overall best female and overall best graduating students.
She finished as the best student in Pharmacology, Pathology, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Community Medicine, Pediatrics Internal Medicine and shared the top prize in surgery.
Dr JohnPaul Nwankwo and Cajethan Egbosimba shared the top positions in Anatomy, Egbosimba won the best student in Biochemistry while the top prize for Physiology went to Nnamdi Onwuegbusi.
In his convocation lecture, Emeritus Prof. Joseph-Ifeanyi-Brian-d Adimma urged the inductees to uphold the ethics and values of medicine in their relationship with patients and colleagues.
Adimma cautioned them against taking risks with people’s lives and ensure they had competence for whatever they wanted to do.
“Treat patience with confidentiality, respect their privacy and tell them the full truth at all times and do not relate with quacks,” he said.
In her speech, Prof. Kate Omenugha, the Vice Chancellor of COOU congratulated the new doctors and urged them not to rest on their oars, but endeavour to advance their careers.
Omenugha, a mother of two medical doctors, urged them to justify the investment in them seriously and as they put in much efforts to bring them to that stage in life.
She said that COOU now had 240 against 100 slots for new intakes and announced an automatic Housemanship slot for the top five best graduates.
Speaking on behalf of her colleagues, Njelita, daughter of Dr and Dr Mrs Chukwudi Njelita appreciated God for graciously leading them through the journey as well as their parents, families and sponsors for their supports.
“Thank you a million times for your love, sacrifices and prayers which carried us through the longest nights and the toughest exams.
“You are our first teachers in compassion and this achievement is as much yours as it is ours.
“Becoming the best graduating student with seven distinctions is a huge win for me and for everyone who has invested in me, including my parents, my teachers, my mentors, my friends and this institution,” she said. (NAN)
