The start to my medical career has definitely been a challenging yet stimulating one for me. From working on the front line during peaks of the pandemic, I have not only developed as a doctor but it has highlighted the need to pursue other strong interests of mine that go beyond the hospital walls. Being a doctor is a little part of me as I am also interested in many other areas and spend time building my passion projects.

I always say that my passion is “healthcare as a whole” and for me this means more than working in hospitals. I have always had interests in healthcare consultancy, public health, health innovation and entrepreneurship. Throughout my medical school journey and beyond, I have actively tried to build on my experience in the field. This has been demonstrated by being a part of the Core Council Member of the Royal Society of Medicine student section and the MedTech societies within my universities and even won the Deans Community Prize with my group for Inspiring Brilliant Minds for work and events organised for students and professionals at Imperial Business School.

In addition, I started my blog Signed.DrJ on instagram to express myself and share my experiences as a doctor and wider. Since starting, I have used this page as a platform to showcase my interests and passions as well as help other fellow healthcare professionals in a similar position as myself. I have grown my community to over 40,000 followers on instagram and over 20,000 followers on TikTok.

I am passionate about health education especially when it comes to womens health and mental health topics. I have been able to do take part in health information giving, health education using social media. I have worked alongside World Health Organisation Africa WHO Africa on social media campaign titled “Put Yourself First” to encourage young African women to make informed decisions about their sexual health.

I founded ARA NINI Health in December 2022. At ARA NINI Health we believe education and awareness around health and wellness topics is important. We want to encourage women across different backgrounds to start having these conversations in spaces where they feel the most comfortable. For many of us growing up, our health was not a topic of conversation. The lack of education begins from early years with many topics not being discussed, many myths and taboos surrounding periods, our bodies, fertility, gynaecological conditions to name a few. We organised our first event with over 100 women in Lagos Nigeria and had an expert panel discuss all things women health.

I also co-founded Chasing Your Truth in 2018 with Dr Otubu and Dr Seriki. Chasing Your Truth is an initiative that aims to connect like- minded women who are seeking clarity as they carve out their unique career paths within the healthcare field. We aim to inspire women to challenge the cultural and social expectations when it comes to navigating their career by creating a supportive community. We have over 15 years collective clinical experience, including mentoring aspiring healthcare professionals and delivering educational material to medical students and junior doctors.

I have been accepted into the NHS Clinical Entrepreneurship Programme Cohort 6 2022. It has been amazing to be selected to be a part of this program to learn and work alongside amazing entrepreneurs in the healthcare industry!

In addition, I enjoy taking part in quality improvement projects and audits at work. Interestingly, I find myself identifying problems in the system at work, challenging the status quo, auditing, researching and developing solutions for departments within the hospital. My recent project on ‘Assessing how prepared and supported surgical juniors were in their re-deployed to critical care during the COVID-19 pandemic’ recently won a regional award in a junior doctor conference and another project titled: ‘Managing Deaf patients’ needs in virtual consultation during the covid-19 pandemic’ recently presented in the Royal College of General Practitioner 2021 Annual conference. I have also been published in respected journals such as the European Journal of Neurology, BMC Medical and Oxford Medical Case reports for research articles I have been undertaken and been involved with. Please follow the link to access full research articles.

More importantly, these projects and research work have been useful for departments across different organisations. Furthermore, I completed an online course by Harvard Business School Online titled: ‘Innovation in Healthcare’ by Regina H where I have learnt the fundamentals of the developing and growing businesses and technology in the healthcare sector. 

Apart from exploring my career, finding work-life balance and having a life is important to me. I also believe that it is important for other students and people to see that doctors or healthcare professionals are human too. I love to travel, eat and spend time with my family and friends. Ultimately, quality one-one time with ‘my people’ is one of the things that fills me with joy! So don’t be surprise if you see me living my life in between the hustle.

My why sits firmly in the space of global, scalable, digital and equitable healthcare for all especially in developing countries. I would like to gain more experience and exposure to different aspects of healthcare. I know my journey is unique and different and I am embracing it and enjoying the ride.

I am still figuring my journey out and exploring interests - join me!! :)