The Right Stuff
A student who would make an excellent doctor and gave him the support he needed to prove it
Andre Ailoje’s real-life story puts most fiction to shame. Born in Angola to a diplomat, Ailoje’s family fled the civil war, moving from Africa to China, to the U.K., and finally settling in the U.S. After suffering a debilitating stroke, Ailoje’s father could no longer work, thrusting the family into financial peril.
Worse still, both Ailoje’s parents and his seven siblings, of whom he is the youngest, all have either sickle cell disease or the sickle cell trait.
Incredibly, Ailoje is the lone member of his immediate family without the genetic trait or the disease of sickle cell. That miracle of health, as he sees it, planted the seed that blossomed into Ailoje’s desire to become a doctor.
He found the perfect partner for his pursuit in the College of Osteopathic Medicine at Touro University California (TUC). He had the fierce will, having earned a B.S. in Biology from NYC’s City College while working full time as a hotel concierge, but when it came to med school, he simply didn’t have any family financial support.
Touro’s med school administrators knew a determined future physician when they saw one. They honored him with a substantial scholarship to defray the cost of tuition, awarded to promising students as an investment in their futures, in keeping with the values of the institution.
“My calling to medicine became the driving force to excel in my academics,” says Ailoje. “I was drawn to osteopathic medicine because of the approach of the whole person, not just the disease.”
During the COVID pandemic, Ailoje had moved to California, where he met Dr. Tami Hendriksz, dean of the TUC medical school. “Dr. Hendriksz’s stellar leadership and her authentic love for the students are irrefutable,” he says.
In 2023, Ailoje was selected for the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Department of Emergency Medicine Fellowship for Underrepresented Minorities in Medicine.
Above all, Ailoje pledges to be a doctor who prioritizes empathy and equality for all patients in the medical system. He also wants to help support other students like himself, who have the will but not the means to realize their dream of becoming a doctor. “I will always be filled with gratitude to Touro California for my education and for the belief they had in me, a belief they backed up with the financial help.”