Chinenye Udemezue

Yale-Howard Scholar '03

Chinenye was born and raised in Nigeria. Since she was a little girl, Chinenye wanted to help people to stay healthy and better manage their illness. "I have always wanted to work in health care," said Chinenye, "but nursing is not looked upon as a knowledge-driven profession in my country." Six years ago, Chinenye came to the United States to continue her education. Her sister-in-law, a neonatal nurse practitioner, once invited her to spend a few hours at the hospital where she worked. Chinenye recalled: "I saw that she was doing important work and I was very impressed. This was a different role from what I perceived the role of nurses to be in my country. I realized then that nursing was the path for me." Chinenye worked with YSN's Dr. Ivy Alexander and Mary Ellen Rousseau to investigate relationships between exercise/nutrition and menopausal symptoms among black women. The needs of families in her home country are never far from her mind. "There is a great shortage of quality health care in Nigeria, especially for poor people, and there is a great need for more advanced practice nurses to provide community health services to the underserved," she said. To help meet that need, Chinenye plans to pursue her graduate degree in nursing in the United States, and then go back to Nigeria to establish a community health clinic there.

Yale-Howard Scholars 2006

• LeSabre Bowens
• Sharita Liser
• Foluke Oladeinde
• Oluseyi Sofoluwe

Yale-Howard Scholars 2005

• Katherine San Gabriel
• Nightingale Gacheru
• Richard Phillips
• Jessica Holmes

Yale-Howard Scholars 2004

• Stella Akintomide
• Gilberto Andino
• Eric Foster
• Dwignt Hampton
• Olivia Pessima

Yale-Howard Scholars 2003

• Tracy Brewington
• Krystal Perkins
• Jessica Campbell-Hamilton
• Graciella Rodriguez-Santos
• Chinenye Udemezue

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