Mother-Daughter Match: Dr. Kudji Sylvester and Dr. Kudji

210 Columbus Avenue, Boston MA

Description

To register for this event, please visit: https://www.mos.org/.../mother-daughter-match-dr-kudji This virtual offering will stream live from the Museum of Science for registrants to enjoy at home. Those who register in advance will receive links to view this program via email within 24 hours of the event start time. Match Day is one of the most important moments in a medical student’s journey, with thousands waiting every year to see if and where they have been placed into a postgraduate residency program—a requirement for obtaining a medical license. For Dr. Cynthia Kudji Sylvester and Dr. Jasmine Kudji, Match Day 2020 was extra special, as the mother-daughter duo became one of the first ever to graduate medical school at the same time and be matched to the same institution, the Louisiana State University School of Medicine. Now, Dr. Jasmine Kudji, a general surgery resident at LSU Health in New Orleans, and Dr. Cynthia Kudji Sylvester, in residency in Family Medicine at LSU Health Lafayette, find themselves at a critical time in their careers facing an unprecedented moment in medical history as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to surge all over the nation. Join us for an intimate conversation between the two doctors to hear firsthand about their experiences on the front lines of the battle against the virus in their community, their journey navigating the medical field and system as women of color, and the power and importance of the bond between mother and daughter. In conversation with Jeneé Osterheldt, culture columnist and creator of A Beautiful Resistance, a special project for The Boston Globe that centers Black voices and celebrates Black Joy. Please consider making a gift to support #MOSatHome and our SubSpace virtual winter/spring season at https://donate.mos.org/mosathome and become a vital partner in helping us provide access to free STEM experiences online. This program was funded by the Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) initiative at the Museum of Science. This program is free, thanks to the generosity of the Lowell Institute. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- [FEATURED GUESTS] JASMINE KUDJI is a General Surgery Resident in Louisiana. She was raised in New Orleans, Louisiana where she attended Isidore Newman High School. She then received her Bachelors Degree from LSU in English with a focus in Writing, Culture, and Rhetoric. During her time at LSU she was part of many honors societies, and she was a part of the Distinguished Communicator program. After completing college, she began her medical school career at LSU School of Medicine in New Orleans. There she was the president of many groups such as the General Surgery Interest group and the Plastic Surgery Interest Group. She was also a member of the Rural Scholars program in which she vowed to practice in a rural area of Louisiana after residency. She has been interested in Surgery since the beginning of medical school, and she is so happy that she was able to achieve her dreams of matching into a General Surgery Residency Program. Medical school proved to be one of the most challenging journeys of her life. However, being able to go through this journey with her mom has been unbelievable. In her free time she enjoys painting, reading, yoga, exercising, watching anything on Bravo/Netflix/Hulu, and she loves a good girls night out. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- CYNTHIA KUDJI SYLVESTER was born in Ghana, West Africa. She spent the majority of her childhood in Louisiana. She is the eldest of three and the daughter of Nicholas and Agnes Kudji who came to the United States when she was 2 years old and later became a citizen of the United States. She graduated from Tulane University in Biology. She graduated from William Carey University with another bachelor’s degree as a registered nurse. She has gained a Masters in Nursing at Loyola University in New Orleans as a nurse practitioner. She worked primarily in the rural areas of Louisiana as a family nurse practitioner and at the same time became a clinical instructor at LSU’s school of nursing. She also became an ambassador for the National Health Service Corp where she trained other nurse practitioners. After practicing as a nurse practitioner for nine years, at the age of 43 she then decided to attend medical school at the University of Medicine and Health Sciences in St. Kitts. During medical school she also obtained a second Masters in Healthcare administration and a third Masters in Leadership at Walden University. She is currently in her first-year of residency at the LSU Family Medicine Residency Program in Lafayette, LA. In her free moments, she spends time with her daughter, husband and her family. She also enjoys teaching, exercising, taking long walks in the park, listening to music and watching Netflix, particularly, “The Flash”. Her various awards include: Graduated from the University of Medicine and Health Sciences in St. Kitts with a High Honors; Received A four-year merit scholarship from Tulane University; On the President’s List and Dean’s List at William Carey College; Recipient of the Lanasa Graeco Scholarship at Loyola University; An ambassador for the National Health Service Corps; Started a Blog with her daughter called “The MD Life” to educate and inspire potential medical school applicants on how to enter and prepare for medical school. She has been a feature story along with her daughter in People’s magazine, the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Family Physicians, Medscape, Southern Living and have done appearances on ABC’s The Today Show, NBC Nightly News, the Dr. OZ show, the Insider, BBC, NPR and several international outlets. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- JENEÉ OSTERHELDT is a culture columnist who covers identity and social justice through the lens of culture and the arts. Her work centers Black lives and the lives of people of color. She is also the creator of A Beautiful Resistance, a special project for The Boston Globe that centers Black voices and celebrates Black Joy. Jeneé’s job is to provide context. Sometimes this means writing about Beyoncé and Black womanhood or unpacking the importance of public art and representation. Sometimes this means taking systemic racism, sexism, and oppression to task. It always means Black lives matter. She joined the Globe in 2018. A native of Alexandria, Va. and a graduate of Norfolk State University, Osterheldt was a 2017 Nieman Fellow at Harvard, where her studies focused on the intersection of art and justice. She previously worked as a Kansas City Star culture columnist.