Chika Stacy Oriuwa

Chika Stacy Oriuwa is a Canadian physician, professional spoken word artist, and an advocate for medical education reform as it pertains to discrimination in medicine and the intersection of race and gender in medicine. In 2020, Oriuwa became the first Black woman to be chosen sole valedictorian at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Medicine and the first female valedictorian in 14 years. Oriuwa has spoken internationally about her experiences as the only Black student in her class, diversity in medicine, and the importance of shared narrative. Oriuwa is well known for her spoken word poem, “Woman, Black”, published in 2017.

Chika Stacy Oriuwa
Born
Ontario, Canada
NationalityCanadian
Alma materMcMaster University
University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine
Known forAdvocacy for Black medical students
Awards2020 Valedictorian of the University of Toronto, Faculty of Medicine
Scientific career
FieldsMedicine

Early life and education

Oriuwa was born in Ontario, Canada.[1] She grew up with her parents who both immigrated to Canada from Nigeria.[1] She attended a catholic elementary school and then pursued high school at St. Thomas Aquinas Secondary School in Brampton, Ontario.[1] She became valedictorian in 2011.[1]

After completing high school, Oriuwa pursued her undergraduate studies at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.[2] She focused her studies in Health Sciences, dedicated to one day becoming a physician.[2] While she was at McMaster, she began to develop her passion for advocacy alongside her intense pre-medical studies.[3]

Oriuwa graduated from McMaster with a Bachelor’s Degree in Health Sciences in 2015, and took a gap year to study for the MCAT and apply to medical school while pursuing her artistic passion, poetry.[2] She joined the Hamilton Youth Poets slam poetry label and competed at the national level in slam poetry.[4] She made it to the national slam poetry finals two years in a row.[5]

In 2016, Oriuwa then pursued a combined Medical Degree and Master’s of Science at the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine.[6] She concentrated her Master’s studies in System Leadership and Innovation within the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto.[7] As the only Black student in a class of 259 medical students, Oriuwa was faced with the significant challenges that motivated her to advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion in medicine.[8] After the Black Student Application Program (BSAP) was founded in 2017 at U of T, Oriuwa became an ambassador and leader in the program.[9] BSAP is an optional application stream for Black applicants to the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine and it provides a culturally safe environment where Black applicants can have their files reviewed by members of the Black community in an effort to break down barriers and increase diversity at U of T.[10] Through speaking and engaging with future U of T applicants, she became the face of the BSAP and helped to increase the diversity of incoming medical classes so that future Black students had a community with which to share their experiences and narratives.[11] Her efforts have manifested themselves in increased Black student matriculation and BSAP acknowledges Oriuwa for her recruitment efforts resulting in the 2022 incoming class having 14 Black students and the 2023 class having 15 Black students.[1] As of 2020, the incoming U of T medical class of 2024, has the largest number of Black students in Canadian History, 24 students.[12]

In addition to the critical role Oriuwa played in recruitment of more diverse medical classes, she also became co-president of the U of T Black Medical Students Association and in her second year, she co-founded the Black Interprofessional Students Association (BIPSA) with her colleague, Josh Lokko, in the law-MBA program at U of T.[11] BIPSA brings together Black graduate students across the campus to enhance networking and build a supportive community. [11] Oriuwa was motivated to make the experience of future Black U of T students supportive from first matriculation. [11]

On June 2, 2020, Oriuwa graduated from U of T as Valedictorian.[13] She was the first solo black female valedictorian at U of T, the second overall black female valedictorian and the first woman in 14 years.[13]  She gave her valedictory address online to the class of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[13]

Career

Medicine

Oriuwa’s passion for addressing mental health and the damage caused by structural racism has led her to pursue her residency in psychiatry.[1]

Advocacy

Oriuwa is an advocate for diversity in medicine and medical education reform to prepare trainees for discrimination and racism in the medical profession.[8] She has delivered international keynote speeches on the health of women and immigrants, and has discussed global health topics with a focus on Nigerian healthcare.[14] Oriuwa has also focused her public education on how to become empowered as a racialized individual in medicine.[9] She was a speaker at the 2018 International Women and Children’s Health Conference at McMaster University as well as the Keynote Speaker at the Leading Women in Science Conference at Women’s College Hospital.[15]

Oriuwa is also actively involved in outreach, health education, and public communication. She is on the Executive Committee of the Healthy Debate, a platform to provide the public with accurate and accessible information about Canadian healthcare and to give the public an opportunity to provide their voice in policy decisions made surrounding healthcare.[7] Through the Healthy Debate, Oriuwa has written about the importance of diversity and equity in medical school admissions to create a healthcare field that can provide the best services to its diverse patient population.[16] She emphasizes the need to think about low socioeconomic status applicants to medical school and the extra barriers they face leading up to and during the admissions process that makes them less likely to become medical students and physicians.[17]

Oriuwa is also the co-director of a non-profit youth leadership organization called Uflow, the co-founder of Black Girl Brunch Toronto, and was on the External Implementation Steering Committee to the Minister of Children and Youth Services focusing on shaping the Ontario Black Youth Action Plan.[18]

Poetry

Oriuwa has competed at the national level in slam poetry with the Hamilton Youth Poets and is well known for her poem on intersectionality in medicine called “Woman, Black”.[19]

Awards and honors
  • 2020 Valedictorian of the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine[20]
  • 2018 Keynote Speaker at the Leading Women in Science Conference at Women’s College Hospital[15]
  • 2018 African Scholars Emerging Academic Award - University of Toronto[21]
  • 2018 Featured in “Faces of U of T Medicine: Women of 2T0 & 2T1”[18]
  • 2011 Valedictorian of St. Thomas Aquinas Secondary School, Brampton, Ontario, Canada[22]

Select media
  • 2020 Maclean’s Magazine “Chika Oriuwa, the first Black female valedictorian for U of T's medical school, gives her address”[23]
  • 2020 Canadian Broadcasting Company “Chika Oriuwa named valedictorian of U of T's faculty of medicine”[13]
  • 2020 CTV News Toronto “In her own words: Chika Oriuwa graduates as first black female valedictorian at U of T's faculty of medicine” [24]
  • 2020 BlogTO “Chika Oriuwa just gave her valedictorian speech at U of T and this is what she said”[25]
  • 2020 The Toronto Star “The only Black medical student in a U of T class of 259, Chika Oriuwa graduates as valedictorian”[26]
  • 2019 Flare Magazine “In My White Coat I’m More Black Than Ever”[27]
  • 2018 Flare Magazine “Chika Stacy Oriuwa, Med School Student and Slam Poet”[28]
  • 2017 “Woman, Black” Spoken Word Poetry by Chika Stacy[29]
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References
  1. "The only Black medical student in a U of T class of 259, Chika Oriuwa graduates as valedictorian". thestar.com. 2020-05-29. Retrieved 2020-06-03.
  2. "Chika Stacy Oriuwa: How I Made It as a Med School Student - FLARE". www.flare.com. Retrieved 2020-06-03.
  3. U of T Medical School, "MCAT for Black Students", Poetry, Women's Rights – Chika Oriuwa Atila TV 011, retrieved 2020-06-03
  4. U of T Medical School, "MCAT for Black Students", Poetry, Women's Rights – Chika Oriuwa Atila TV 011, retrieved 2020-06-03
  5. "20th Annual Women's Health Care Seminar" (PDF). Ontario Medical Association. 2019.
  6. "Chika Oriuwa: UofTMed's Class of 2T0 Valedictorian, Poet, Writer, Activist". Faculty of Medicine. 2020-04-22. Retrieved 2020-06-03.
  7. "Our Team". healthydebate.ca. Retrieved 2020-06-03.
  8. "Chika Stacy Oriuwa". Talk Boutique. Retrieved 2020-06-03.
  9. ""In My White Coat, I Am More Black than Ever" - FLARE". www.flare.com. Retrieved 2020-06-03.
  10. New program has improved number of black students at University of Toronto's medical school, retrieved 2020-06-03
  11. "Building a Social Network for Black Graduate and Professional Students at U of T". StartUp HERE Toronto. 2017-10-30. Retrieved 2020-06-03.
  12. "24 Black medical students accepted to U of T Medicine — the most in Canadian history". Global News. Retrieved 2020-06-03.
  13. Ricci, Talia (June 2, 2020). "Chika Oriuwa named valedictorian of U of T's faculty of medicine". CBC. Retrieved June 3, 2020.
  14. "wsbiostwo". physicianleadershipconference.com. Retrieved 2020-06-03.
  15. IWD 2018 - Keynote Presentation: Chika Stacy Oriuwa, retrieved 2020-06-03
  16. "What are medical schools doing to admit more poor students?". healthydebate.ca. Retrieved 2020-06-03.
  17. "What are medical schools doing to admit more poor students?". healthydebate.ca. Retrieved 2020-06-03.
  18. "Faces of U of T Medicine: Women of 2T0 & 2T1". MD Program. 2018-03-06. Retrieved 2020-06-03.
  19. Woman, Black || Spoken Word Poetry by Chika Stacy, retrieved 2020-06-03
  20. "Justin Trudeau's Tweet About U of T's New Valedictorian Is Just The Sweetest". www.narcity.com. 2020-06-02. Retrieved 2020-06-03.
  21. "Honouring African scholars". jamaica-gleaner.com. 2018-10-28. Retrieved 2020-06-03.
  22. "U of T Faculty of Medicine first Black female valedictorian is a poet and activist". Ron Fanfair. Retrieved 2020-06-03.
  23. "What the NDP is doing for Canadians - Video Macleans.ca". www.macleans.ca. Retrieved 2020-06-03.
  24. "In her own words: Chika Oriuwa graduates as first black female valedictorian at U of T's faculty of medicine". Toronto. 2020-06-02. Retrieved 2020-06-03.
  25. "Chika Oriuwa just gave her valedictorian speech at U of T and this is what she said". www.blogto.com. Retrieved 2020-06-03.
  26. "The only Black medical student in a U of T class of 259, Chika Oriuwa graduates as valedictorian". thestar.com. 2020-05-29. Retrieved 2020-06-03.
  27. ""In My White Coat, I Am More Black than Ever" - FLARE". www.flare.com. Retrieved 2020-06-03.
  28. "Chika Stacy Oriuwa: How I Made It as a Med School Student - FLARE". www.flare.com. Retrieved 2020-06-03.
  29. "Building a Social Network for Black Graduate and Professional Students at U of T". StartUp HERE Toronto. 2017-10-30. Retrieved 2020-06-03.
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