DOCTOR: OHENEBA BOACHIE-ADJEI, M.D.
Oheneba Boachie-Adjei was born in Kumasi, Ghana, West Africa, and raised by a poor, single mother, a circumstance that fostered Boachie's determination, resourcefulness, persistence and take-charge attitude.
As an 8-year-old in the city of Kumasi, Ghana, Boachie-Adjei nearly died from a severe gastric illness. When the herbal remedy prescribed by a local healer did little to help, his family was fortunately able to track down one of the country's few physicians — a pediatrician who had returned to Ghana after training in the U.K. The doctor came to the young boy's aid, successfully treating him with modern medicine. The experience inspired young Boachie-Adjei to pursue medicine as a career and also served as a reminder to keep his mother country close to his heart.
Dr. Boachie came to New York as a 21-year-old immigrant. He worked three jobs before school started and held part-time jobs while a full-time student at Brooklyn College.
He attended the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and pursued postgraduate medical education as an intern at St. Vincent's Hospital and as a resident at Hospital for Special Surgery, both in New York City. A fellowship took him to Minneapolis, Minn., as a John H. Moe Spine Fellow at the Twin Cities Scoliosis Center and the Minnesota Spine Center. In 1994, he returned to Hospital for Special Surgery, where he is now chief of the scoliosis service. He is also professor of orthopaedic surgery at Weill Medical College of Cornell University. At the Hospital for Special Surgery, Boachie was the first person named to hold the David B. Levine Chair in Spine Research.
In the mid-1990s, having established his career as an orthopaedic spine surgeon, Dr. Boachie-Adjei dedicated himself to launching a foundation to provide orthopaedic and spine services to people in Ghana and other developing nations who do not receive adequate medical care. Using his own money for start-up costs, Dr. Boachie-Adjei launched FOCOS in 1998. "FOCOS was a dream come true for me and for countless others who suffer from spine and orthopaedic afflictions in Ghana," he said. The foundation's efforts were expanded to Barbados in 1999, and Dr. Boachie and the FOCOS board are working to extend its services farther in West Africa. Already, patients from Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Poland and the UAE have been treated in Ghana as an affordable alternative to treatment elsewhere.
Dr. Boachie says, "I believe in the notion that the practice of medicine is a privilege, not a right, and that our talents have been given to us to benefit the sick and suffering. I learned of giving back early in life; I am alive today because someone served and gave back. Service is our destiny. Albert Schweitzer, a Nobel Prize laureate, said, 'I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.'"
Foundation of Orthopaedics and Complex Spine (F.O.C.O.S.)
FOCOS is a nonprofit organization established by Oheneba Boachie-Adjei, M.D. The mission of FOCOS is to provide comprehensive, affordable orthopaedic and spine care to underserved communities in Ghana and throughout West Africa. Through its international network of world-class volunteer surgeons and other medical providers, the FOCOS vision is to create a sustainable infrastructure that encourages local capacity building and professional development in these areas.
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