Dr Khadija Owusu – Award-winning Doctor, Social Entrepreneur & UN Women Delegate

Meet Dr Khadija Owusu as part of our series “Inspirational You, Awesome Sisters United” about women in medicine achieving incredible things in today’s world. Read on and learn about her impressive achievements.

Dr Khadija Owusu is a Junior Doctor with an incredibly admirable list of achievements, especially for someone so early in their career. Amongst her accomplishments are:

• TED x Speaker
• United Nations Delegate
• Guest of Michelle Obama at the White House
• Co-Founder and Director of Programmes at Melanin Medics
• Winner of the women in STEM award by HRH Princess Anne
• Diana Award Recipient 2021
• Rising Star in Healthcare 2020
• Founder of AKAYA, a non-profit organisation for female education, health and empowerment in Ghana, Africa.
• Equality and Diversity Board Member at Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School
• Ambassador at GUBA-Enterprise
• Trustee for Raising Futures Kenya

Let’s find out more about her life and work.

Khadija was born in Tottenham and grew up in a burgh of North London which boasted one of the highest crime rates in the capital. She and her 2 younger brothers were raised in a single parent household by their mother who worked several jobs to provide for them.

Khadija helped care for her brothers, one of whom has Sickle Cell Disease, a serious lifelong condition in which sufferers experience multiple episodes of extreme pain in their chest, abdomen and joints known as “sickle cell crises”. The condition also causes anaemia, delayed growth, increased susceptibility to infection, and strokes.

Throughout her childhood Khadija visited her brother in hospitals and interacted with the healthcare staff who worked hard to help him. These experiences influenced Khadija’s decision to become a doctor.

However, coming from a low socioeconomic background, having no family members in the medical profession, and no role models she could relate to, Khadija faced multiple barriers to achieve her dreams.

Khadija explains how these barriers are not just financial. The lack of representation of Black and ethnic minorities at the top of the medical profession create a psychological barrier to young people making them feel that they don’t belong in that world and blunting their aspirations.

“You can’t be what you can’t see,” is a phrase that Khadija uses in her heartfelt speeches and that drives her to be an inspiring role model for bright young people with skin of colour, urging them to aim high.

Khadija attended the Elizabeth Garret Anderson all-girls state school where she excelled at science and maths. She successfully applied for a place at a private 6^th form college and was awarded a 50% scholarship.

However, even with this concession she could not afford the fees. Ashbourne College reconsidered and gave her a 100% scholarship. She aced her A levels and was accepted to St George’s Medical School at the University of London.

In her 3^rd year of Medical School, Khadija co-founded “Melanin Medics”, an organisation that aims to remove the barriers that people from Black and ethnic minorities face due to lack of representation and endemic racial prejudice. As Director of Programmes, Khadija co-ordinates outreach programmes to state schools and schools that have a predominantly Black and ethnic minority population.

Visits from doctors with whom the children can identify helps them to believe that they can be whoever they want to be. It helps widen their aspirations and encourages them to fulfil their dreams. Melanin Medics also run a mentorship programme for aspiring medical students, host equality and diversity workshops, and support the mental wellbeing of medical students and doctors of Black heritage.

Khadija is the embodiment of the phrase “Be the change you want to see.” Not only is she passionate about increasing representation in Medicine and ensuring equitable healthcare for all. But she is also on a mission to educate and empower women worldwide.

In March 2023, Khadija launched AKAYA, a non-profit organisation to aid the personal and professional development of the next generation of female African leaders. Starting in Ghana, the project focuses on education, health, and equality for girls, helping them to take ownership of their journeys.

Having completed Global Health Courses at Harvard X (an online learning initiative by Harvard University), and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Khadija plans to pursue a Masters of Public Health as a further step in her journey to improve the health of individuals worldwide.

As a recently appointed UN delegate for the UN Commission on the status of women, Khadija has secured a powerful platform from which to effect positive change.

We are truly humbled by your determination and strength, Khadija. You are an incredible force for good in this world and we sincerely wish you every success in your journey. We can’t wait to see where it takes you next.

You can support her work by donating to the AKAYA Foundation on Khadija’s JustGiving page.