Dr. Cynthia Kudji and daughter, Dr. Jasmine Kudji are making history together as the first-ever mother-daughter duo to graduate from medical school at the same time and match at the same hospital.
According to The University of Medicine and Health Sciences (UMHS), Cynthia and Jasmine, both matched at LSU Health in Louisiana after receiving their medical degrees. Cynthia got her degree in Family Medicine and Jasmine got hers in General Surgery.
Cynthia was studying in St. Kitts and Maine at UMHS while Jasmine was at LSU School of Medicine.
Dr. Cynthia Kudji, who’s originally from Ghana, West Africa, put her dreams of becoming a doctor on hold when she was pregnant with her daughter at just 23-years-old. She went on to become a nurse and worked as an RN and Nurse Practitioner for almost a decade before deciding to attend medical school.
Cynthia faced challenges as a nontraditional student, and Jasmine had difficulties adjusting as well, especially since she was so far away from her mom.
The mother and daughter were able to strengthen their family bond while attending medical school simultaneously thanks to technology.
“I think initially it was difficult because my mom and I have always been really close so I had to get used to the distance, we had to learn how to FaceTime and Skype each other, so we were Skyping each other every day and whenever I had struggles and she had struggles, we just had to learn to communicate from a distance,” Dr. Jasmine Kudji said. “But I think over time we figured it out.”
In July the two will be entering the next phase of their careers side by side.