HELP! UWI Medical Student Seeks Assistance To Pursue Studies....2-Time PALAS Recipient, Venessa Green Makes Urgent Appeal.

Published:Thursday | January 26, 2017 | 12:50 AMCecelia Campbell Livingston

GORDON PEN, St Catherine:
Second-year medical student Venessa Green, who is now pursuing a bachelor of medicine, bachelor of surgery degree at the University of the West Indies, Mona (UWI) is all set on making a difference in the lives of others.
Medicine was the last thing on her agenda as while attending St Jago High School, her primary focus was on business before she morphed into medicine.
Green told Rural Xpress that ‘medicine chose her’.

Venessa Green 

“I had a passion for chemistry especially and I wanted to pursue a degree in pharmaceuticals. With relevant guidance and advice from mentors, I decided to apply to medical school which I was assured a space from the dean’s office at UWI because I had the grades that would guarantee me a spot,” she said, admitting that she has since fallen in love with the programme.
With her ultimate goal being to offer quality health care services to her community of Gordon Pen, St Catherine, where she hails from and by extension her country, she dreams of owning a medical complex along with a pharmacy one day.

Venessa Green, 2-Time Recipient/ Med Student at UWI

But there is wide divide between her dreams and the journey to get there as presently Green, in spite of the input from both her parents – her mother an office attendant at Jamaica Customs Agency and her father – a police personnel and six other children (between them) to support, it is a challenge meeting her needs at university.
Green is in need of textbooks and  financial assistance to offset fees for accommodation, especially for her upcoming third year in June as she will have to reside on hall during the summer period.
“Then there is the cost of medical supplies such as prescribed texts and medical equipment (ophthalmoscope, stethoscope etc) and living expenses (groceries, personal hygiene products),” she said.
Right now it seems like a huge mountain, but Green has not lost her determination to go on.
“Amid my challenges, my innate drive for success comes from my intrinsic motivation to always excel in all my endeavours as well as to overcome every obstacle that presents itself,” she said.
Not fazed by her socio-economic status, one she is confident is temporary.
“I grew up in a single parent household where my mother was a domestic helper and a seamstress and I saw how she struggled to provide for my sisters and I,” said Green, adding that her mother’s determination for seeking any available job in order to make ends meet, was one of the contributing factors that motivated her to excel in all aspects of life, especially academically. more