Nigeria: Abimbola Ayodeji Abolarinwa became the first female urologist in 2013

Abimbola Ayodeji Abolarinwa, born in 1979, is the first female Urologist in the country of Nigeria. She was born in England to a humble and monogamous family. Her family shifted to Northern Nigeria soon after her birth.

Abimbola Ayodeji Abolarinwa, born in 1979, is the first female Urologist in the country of Nigeria. She was born in England to a humble and monogamous family. Her family shifted to Northern Nigeria soon after her birth.

Her father was a General Surgeon in the Nigerian Air Force and was one of the first graduates in the field of medicine from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, during the early 1970s, while her mother is a lawyer, both successful in their own careers.

Advertisement

The primary education of Abolarinwa started at Air Force Primary School, Kaduna. After that, she went to Air Force Girls Military School, Jos, for higher education and later got into the University of Ibadan (UI) to study physiology. But in her second year, she decided to switch her study to medicine.

Her decision regarding studying medicine and further becoming a surgeon was provoked by her father, who used to recount stories of his work experiences at work with her and also took her to his workplace.

She started her career in medicine in 2004 after graduating from the University of Ibadan. She started her career as a Medical officer for initial two years before she started her residency training at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja.

She always had the desire to become an orthopaedic surgeon but later changed her mind to be a urologist because, as per her, “urology is very practical, it cuts across being a physician and a surgeon at the same time, and there was a need for the speciality.”

In 2013, she made history when she became qualified to practice as a Urologist after passing Part II of her West African College of Surgeons Examination and emerged as the first female Urologist in Nigeria. As of 2019, she worked as a Urologist in the Department of Surgery of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja.

She’s married and is the mother of two children.

Advertisement

Latest articles

Related articles