Aarinola Olaiya the first medical student to graduate with distinction in Surgery at the Obafemi Awolowo University since 1989, says medical school is not for nitwits.
She also said even though keeping up with the culture of excellence is challenging, it did not stop her from having fun and having a romantic relationship. The 28-year-old who broke a 28-year-old record of distinctions in surgery made the revelation during an interview with Punchng.
Aarinola Olaiya who attributed her success to the grace of God said: “Medical school is not for just anybody. If you have a daughter that wants to study medicine, you have to make her think seriously about her ambition. You have to ask her if she really wants to be a doctor. You have to count the costs before she goes ahead to study medicine.
“Initially, I was excited about being in Medical school. In Part Two, I started reading big books. Then I started getting used to the language of Anatomy, Medical bio-chemistry and more. With time, I got used to it. To keep going, even as some people were being withdrawn from medical school, I just had to hold my head high. For someone like me that was getting many distinctions, keeping up with the success story was tough. But I didn’t expect that my efforts would result in such huge success. I only wanted to try my best and do everything possible in my power to get things done.”
On leisure, relationship and her routine as a medical student she said: “I never had time for parties. That wasn’t my idea of leisure. I just went out with my friends to eat and then, we would have fun during the day before returning to the hostel. We went out to eateries to have lunch, take pictures and so on. We didn’t go to clubs or drink alcoholic beverages.
“I have a boyfriend, but I never allowed him to come between me and my studies. He does not live in Ile-Ife. So he visits me in school sometimes. Most of the time, we communicate to each other via the telephone.”
