BlackDoctor.org Champions of Change 2015

Olujoke Jones, MD

President, Labors of Love Mission 

Dr Olujoke Jones was born in Lagos Nigeria to her proud parents, Chief and Chief Mrs Odunlami. An only girl among four brothers, they enjoyed playing outdoor sports especially soccer and ping pong. Unfortunately, she lost one of her brothers at the tender age of 9. He succumbed to Stevens Johnson’s syndrome, an illness she discovered was easily treatable after choosing a career in medicine. At the College of Medicine of the University of Lagos, she made a determination to positively impact the health care system especially in the third world. After graduating medical school in 1988, she moved to the United Kingdom where she trained in Obstetrics and Gynecology for two years.

She met and married a fellow physician. Then she went on to North General Hospital at Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York City for an Internal Medicine residency. There she graduated with distinctions, winning the first prize in her final year research project. She subsequently moved to Mississippi where she managed a rural health clinic, catering to an underserved population. In addition she successfully set up a thriving Bariatric practice. This involved personalized counselling for overweight patients including optimizing dietary habits, exercise strategies, lifestyle modification, appetite suppressants and referral to surgery as indicated.

In 2005, she switched to hospital medicine. Her career as a hospitalist has been distinguished by several leadership roles including medical director of the Fairview Park Hospitalist Program in Dublin Georgia, and currently medical director of the Medical Center of South Arkansas Hospitalist Program.

Despite her busy lifestyle, she is the proud mother of two amazing boys. Umar is 19, and a sophomore at Baylor University in the business pre-med program. Bashir, 16, is a sophomore in high school. Widowed at the age of 37, she has single-handedly raised them for over twelve years. They are her pride and joy.

Losing her brother at such a young age remained with her through her career. She had plans to start a free clinic with her husband in Nigeria. When he passed away, she thought this dream would die with him. But God has been faithful. Training in Africa gave her first-hand exposure to health care disparities. This has fueled her passion for medical missions and strengthened her desire to give back, heralding the conception of Labors of Love Mission.

The inaugural medical mission which was to Lagos Nigeria was met with huge success. With a group of 12 health care professionals, they attended to 1200 people including 300 high school children. In addition to providing medical care, they focused on preventive health education. They say, “Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day; teach him to fish and he will eat everyday”. Dr Jones believes that education is a seed that will continue to grow; and that is why her focus is on health education. Her goal is to grow Labors of Love into a global organization, providing health care and education to underserved populations all over the world.

Meet The BlackDoctor.org 2015 “Champions of Change” - Page 8  was originally published on blackdoctor.org