Junior Doctor Aid

Hello, my name is Anthony Chimokwu. I am a newly qualified doctor from Queen’s University Belfast (QUB). I am writing this, having exhausted all options in dealing with my current tuition fee debacle.

To summarise, I am an international student from Nigeria. I have been resident in the Uk for 10 years, where I completed my A-levels and obtained a BSc in Biomedical science from the University of Manchester. I have satisfied every academic requirement from my medical school and subsequently been granted a job as a junior doctor. However, as it stands I still owe my University £25000 in tuition fees. My deadline for payment is on Friday the 17th of July (17/07/2020). I have been informed that missing this deadline will mean I will not be awarded my degree thus preventing me from taking up my job and could thus have an impact on my license to practice and my immigration status.

Prior to this, I was able to afford my tuition through help from my Dad who paid my tuition fees in full for the first two years. However, he was forced to retire a few years ago and liquidating assets back home has been challenging and has been especially compounded by the current pandemic. I have thus worked as a health care assistant as much as I could without jeopardising my academics. This coupled with sorting  help from close friends and family, as well as taking up loans has allowed me to progress on through to the final year and indeed to the final stage of medical school. 

My ultimate aim has always been to become a cardiologist and practice in the Uk as this is where I have spent majority of my adult life. Medicine is all I know and I could not imagine applying myself to any other profession. The sense of being able to bring joy to someone or alleviate a patients suffering being through conventional medicine or otherwise, is what drives me. 

I am currently out of options and here I am asking your help and kindness. It’s been quite the journey but like someone much smarter than I am said “the reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen all at once” (guess who :)). 

No one is under any obligation to donate but please do so if you can and please share to as many people as possible. Thank you and God bless.