NEWS
“I Left Because I Wanted Better Opportunities and Professional Growth“ — Nigeria’s 1st Female Neurosurgeon, Dr. Salamat Ahuoiza Aliu-Ibrahim, Explains Move to the U.S.
Nigeria’s healthcare sector continues to grapple with the challenge of brain drain as another remarkable medical professional has shared the reasons behind her decision to leave the country for the United States.
Dr. Salamat Ahuoiza Aliu-Ibrahim, widely recognized as Nigeria’s first-ever female neurosurgeon and a former Senior Consultant Neurosurgeon at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH), has opened up on the motivations behind her relocation and career transition.
The accomplished surgeon, who has since retrained in the United States, is now practicing as a pediatric physician at a children’s clinic in Joplin, Missouri, after completing a pediatric residency programme.
Speaking about the decision that changed the course of her medical career, Dr. Aliu-Ibrahim said:
“I left because I wanted better opportunities and professional growth. I wanted to practice Neurosurgery in U.S. but I didn’t match. So I decided to go for Pediatrics, a field I also love.
“After my pediatric residency training, I needed to find a job in an area designated medically underserved due to my visa type. Joplin, Missouri, fits that description, and that is how I found my way to Freeman Health System. This is my home now.”
Her remarks provide a personal insight into the realities many internationally trained medical professionals face when seeking to continue their careers abroad. Although she had already established herself as a neurosurgeon in Nigeria, the pathway to practicing neurosurgery in the United States required a separate residency match process, which she was unable to secure.
Rather than abandon her passion for medicine, she chose to pursue pediatrics, a specialty she says she equally loves. Following the successful completion of her pediatric residency, visa requirements directed her to work in a medically underserved area, leading her to Freeman Health System in Joplin, Missouri, where she has since built a new life.
It is important to note that Dr. Aliu-Ibrahim is not currently practicing pediatric neurosurgery.
Pediatric neurosurgery is a subspecialty of neurosurgery rather than pediatrics. To practice as a pediatric neurosurgeon in the United States, she would have been required to first complete a U.S. neurosurgery residency before undertaking additional fellowship training in pediatric neurosurgery, a pathway she did not pursue.
Today, Dr. Salamat Ahuoiza Aliu-Ibrahim resides in Missouri with her husband and their three children, where she continues her medical career while contributing to pediatric healthcare in her
adopted community.