A young scholar has reportedly made history in the medical field.
After graduating from the School of Medical Sciences at the University of Cape Coast in September 2023, Kwaku Boakye Gyamfi has become one of the youngest medical doctors in Ghana, according to Face2Face Africa.
The outlet details that the 22-year-old began his path to becoming a doctor at age 5 at Danem Royal Montessori School in Accra, Ghana. Then, he went on to complete his primary and secondary education early. The completion led to Gyamfi being admitted into medical school at age 16.
Gyamfi’s achievement and opportunity to represent Ghana comes after others had made their mark as two of the youngest medical doctors in Ghana. Erica Maame Abena Pomaa Ntiamoah Mensah graduated from the Accra College of Medicine as a doctor in 2021 at 21 years old, and Vanessa Aseye Mensah-Kabu had made history by becoming a doctor at 22.
When it comes to fellow doctors making history, a spotlight has also been placed on Olubukola Abiona, Geoffery Hutchinson, and Cynthia Ziwawo. As previously reported by AFROTECH, the three medical students were part of the 2020 research that led to the development of the first COVID-19 vaccine. They worked under the guidance of Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett, senior research fellow for the National Institutes of Health.
“We knew we were doing big things that were important, but then it was like, ‘Oh, wow, this is really big,’” Ziwawo said, per CNN. “And then [Dr. Anthony] Fauci is coming to the lab.”
Dr. Barney Graham, deputy director of the NIH Vaccine Research Center at the time, added, “The work that these four people did in particular, I think, has been underappreciated and somewhat heroic, in my opinion. Their work led to not just the Moderna vaccine rapidly entering clinical trials, but also to the discovery of monoclonal antibodies that were used for treatments and informed the development of other coronavirus vaccines, as well.”
After their “heroic” efforts, Dr. Graham went on to become a professor at the Morehouse School of Medicine and the inaugural director of the institution’s new David Satcher Global Health Equity Institute. In addition, Hutchinson, Abiona, and Ziwawo are currently still pursuing their medical degrees.