Jeremiah Journey
Jeremiah (Jeremy) was a nurse anesthetist in Liberia. The operating rooms all across the entire country are staffed by nurses trained to give anesthesia. In our country if a nurse is giving anesthesia they are supervised by an Anesthesiologist. Not so inLiberia!I went to Liberia on a Mount Sinai Surgical Mission and part of the mission was to train nurse anesthetists. That’s how we met Jeremiah. He stood out among thestudents. We found him to be well trained in basic science and inquisitive about the mechanisms of anesthetics and other drugs he utilized in taking care of patients.​
Jeremiah's Dream
to become a physician anesthesiologist
After our mission, we stayed in contact. When he completed the training and became a certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA), Jeremiah announced that he was applying to Medical School. Due to his education as a CRNA, Jeremiah placed out of the first year and was able to immediately join the second year class. After he was accepted the next challenge was paying tuition.
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Five years of medical school in Africa cost less than 1 year of some medical schools in the USA. We needed to raise about $11,000 for one year including room and board. I set up this GoFundMe page and unfortunately, we fell far short. Dr. Jeff Freed and I contributed more from our pockets to supplement the money raised so that we can fund the first of three trimesters.
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He completed the assigned courses successfully. Classes have started for the next trimester but we have not paid tuition. He is avoiding school administration for fear that they will throw him out.
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Jeremiah has given up so much to pursue this dream. He left his wife and daughter in Liberia and traveled to the Gambia to attend the university medical school. He cannot afford to visit home during breaks. He is determined to become a physician anesthesiologist for the sake of his patients and so that he will be able to train more CRNAs in the future.
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Please share this page with as many people as possible and contribute something to help Jeremiah.
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By: Ram Roth, MD