Nene Usim is charting her future in medicine
This graduating senior has long been turning compassion into action
Sydney Cattouse Photography
By Jonathan Riggs | June 13, 2023
Growing up in Bellflower, Calif., Nene Usim’s favorite toy was a little plastic doctor’s kit her mother bought for her — she loved pretending to help people in need. But years later when her triplet younger brothers were born prematurely and subsequently had health complications, Usim spent a lot of time with her family in hospitals being around medical professionals who were living her childhood fantasy.
“There were so many really good doctors and other people who were very supportive to my mom and family in the system,” she said. “I saw there was an opportunity for me in medicine to be an advocate and serve people, which is my biggest passion.”
And so Usim set her sights on UCLA, beginning her Bruin journey via the Academic Advancement Program’s Freshmen Transfer Summer Program, a residential bridge opportunity to empower first-generation, low-income students from historically underrepresented groups to make a successful transition to campus and academic life. The experience not only helped Usim find two lifelong best friends — who, like her, are currently applying to medical schools — but it also inspired her to become an AAP peer counselor herself.
“I know how much my support system encouraged and influenced me here at UCLA, and now I’m able to be that person for others, too,” Usim said. “The job also made me realize how much of a people person I am. I love being able to alleviate someone’s stress, hear their stories and help them leave each visit feeling better than when they came in.”
This is also a huge reason for why she chose her major. Although she had already decided she wanted to pursue medicine as a career — and become the first in her family to attend medical school — Usim wanted a course of study that reflected her worldview a little more completely, and so she opted to major in human biology and society.
“I have always questioned the world around me, and so for me I knew it wasn’t enough to just learn about the human biology aspect — I wanted to learn about how systems can affect people,” she said. “I myself have a lot of converging identities — I’m a woman, a Black woman, a Nigerian American — and I know how my identity has affected me in different ways. I realized how important it is for me as a future doctor to not only know how the body works, but all the other factors that impact people as human beings.”
In addition to giving her an academic route to follow her dreams, UCLA has also allowed Usim to find both a larger community — and herself.
“UCLA really values diversity, which made me realize how special my story is. I knew by coming here that I would be welcomed, accepted and that there would be support for my unique identity,” she said. “Everyone at UCLA has their own personal experiences and stories that have made them who they are and shaped their thought processes. UCLA has shown me how to use my experiences in combination with what I’ve learned here to change the world.”
For a period, Usim considered taking an alternate career path into music. She’s loved to sing and play piano all her life, and still enjoys creating arrangements and performing, even if it’s now more often just for herself. But knowing how much more of an impact she could have helping people as a doctor inspired her to stay the course.
She has seen this firsthand with one of the service initiatives she participates in, The Mobile Clinic Project, a medical and social services clinic serving the unhoused community in Los Angeles. Making a daily difference in people’s lives while being around so many doctors and medical students inspired Usim to submit her applications to medical school on the cusp of her UCLA graduation.
“My mom is very excited — for a long time, she’s thought that being a doctor would be a good role for me, even when I doubted myself because of how hard it seemed,” Usim said. “I have heard from everyone going the medical route that there will probably be many more tough moments like this, because it is difficult, but now that I’m at the end of at least the undergraduate part, I’m like, okay, maybe she’s right — I can do this.”
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