Syrian-born HOSPEX student now studying to be a doctor
A student who moved to Derby from war-torn Syria has been accepted to study Medicine at Cambridge University – one year on from completing work experience at UHDB.
Nazh Chendi didn’t speak English when she moved with her family to the UK in 2011 but has incredibly gone on to obtain the two A*and two A grades needed to earn herself a place at one of the world’s top universities.
She is now studying to become a doctor at Homerton College, having previously taken part in UHDB’s HOSPEX work experience programme, which saw her spend three days shadowing different clinical staff around Royal Derby Hospital in September 2018.
The programme is run every month by the Trust’s Medical Education department and allows sixth form pupils with aspirations of going to Medical School to see first-hand what it’s like to be a medic in real life by observing clinical staff working in different areas of the hospital, including in A&E.
Nazh was inspired to pursue a career in medicine by her early experiences in Syria, where several members of her family still live today.
She said: “I have chosen to study Medicine because I want to make a difference to people’s lives. I really admire the NHS. In Syria, people are not so lucky because they usually have to wait hours and hours to be seen by a doctor and it is very crowded.
“My mum’s brother is a surgeon in Aleppo and I can remember him coming home in bloody scrubs after a day in theatre. I would love to go back there one day and maybe work with him.”
Nazh’s Kurdish family fled from Aleppo in Syria in 2011, after the uprising which led to civil war and the deaths of 400,000 civilians, with the teenager taking her GCSEs at Bemrose School and then studying for her A-Levels at Littleover Community School.
She added: “After leaving Syria, we were waiting for migration papers for a long time and I missed a year of school. It was very daunting starting at secondary school unable to speak or read in English, but I was so lucky to end up at Bemrose School. I was always motivated to try my hardest at school because I knew that if we had stayed in Syria I would not have had the same opportunities. My parents had to give up a lot to give us a better and safer life.
“When they found out I was going to Cambridge my dad rang the entire village back home to tell them the news.”
*Credit Penguin PR*