Meet Nancy Abu-Bonsrah -- The First Black Female Neurosurgery Resident

The prestigious Johns Hopkins University beckons to hopeful, eager students who have dreams of advancing medicine. For many young people, this dream never comes true. But for Nancy Abu-Bonsrah, years of hard work and academic excellence paid off when she received the news that she had been accepted into the University's neurosurgery residency program. Even more, she’s the very first Black female there to be granted this honor.
Nancy learned about this news on Match Day, where medical students nationwide are ‘matched’ with postgraduate residency programs. Johns Hopkins is a highly selective program, only accepting 3–5 neurosurgery residents into their program each year. When she described her feelings to Teen Vogue, Nancy stated, “I could not believe that right there, in that moment, I was going to be given this incredible opportunity to remain at Johns Hopkins to begin my neurosurgical training.”

While Nancy is the first black female neurosurgery resident at Johns Hopkins, she’s also the first physician in her extended family. Nancy Abu-Bonsrah was born in Ghana and emigrated to the U.S. when she was fifteen. During college, she returned to Ghana for an internship at the Komfo Ayuke Teaching Hospital. While there, she spent a great deal of time in the neurosurgery wing. Seeing the overwhelmed doctors at the underserved hospitals in Ghana inspired her to pursue neurosurgery, and she hopes to return to Ghana one day to improve access to care in impoverished communities.

Nancy has put away her student lab notebook in favor of a crisp, white lab coat. She’s now looking to her future, as a doctor and a mentor. During an interview with Essence, she poignantly remarked, “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.”