Johns Hopkins admits its first black female neurosurgeon

Nancy Abu-Bonsrah is making history after being admitted to Johns Hopkins as its first black female neurosurgeon.

On Friday, March 17, fourth-year medical students participated in a Match Day event in which they discovered where they would be doing their residency training over the summer. Each student held an envelope with the name of their matched hospital, and when Abu-Bonsrah opened hers, it had the name Johns Hopkins.

Of course, Abu-Bonsrah was thrilled, saying, “Everything is special about the match. It will be a dream come true.”

Asked about herself, Abu-Bonsrah had this to share: “I was born in Ghana and spent the first 15 years of my life there. My family and I came to Maryland about 11 years ago. I did most of high school at Hammond High in Columbia, Maryland, and went to college at Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, Maryland. I came to Johns Hopkins right after undergrad. I will be the first physician in my family, including the extended family.”

As for her future plans, she said, “I am very much interested in providing medical care in underserved settings, specifically surgical care. I hope to be able to go back to Ghana over the course of my career to help in building sustainable surgical infrastructure. 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.

“I want to be remembered for serving my community, whether it is through providing quality surgical care or helping mentor the next generation of surgeons,” she added.