GET CHIDI TO KYIV

The Proceeds of this fundraiser shall be applied for the educational benefits of Chidiebere Ibe (beneficiary). Due to location restrictions,    Oluwabamise Fatoke is acting as a trustee of the funds, in compliance with the rules of GoFundMe.

MY STORY

Hello! Welcome to my GoFundMe page

My name is Chidiebere Ibe, and I am a Nigerian medical illustrator admitted to resume at the Kyiv Medical School (Ukraine) in September 2021. My passion for medicine and art spurred my interest for medical illustrations and this has afforded me the opportunity to work with great minds and earn several global recognitions and features in medical journals and textbooks.

I started medical illustrations to promote the use of black skin illustrations in our medical textbooks to depict a typical African person. Textbooks are essentially invincible to medical training. They walk medical trainees through conditions they will encounter during their practice. Yet, most medical illustrations are on the Caucasian skin. This lack of diversity has important implications for medical trainees and their future patients because many conditions and signs look different based on the patient’s skin colour and therefore the black skin should be equally represented. Recent research on health inequities has found that black students find illustrations in black skin more engaging, amusing and emphatic. The deeper engagement and connection help them understand more, hence my desire to assist my colleagues get a better understanding of medicine and help my future patients be better engaged.

I am a self-taught medical illustrator, and I hope that my medical training will increase my knowledge of anatomy and physiology and help me better service my community through contributions to the development of materials that will help train more competent and passionate medical personnel. To achieve my dreams, I need your help to pay my tuition during my medical training, which is why I appeal that you please contribute to my GoFundMe.