28 Mar 2024

Professor Etowa named among 2016  Top 25 Canadian immigrants
People making a difference

Professor Etowa named among 2016 Top 25 Canadian immigrants 

 

Josephine Etowa

Josephine Etowa
Photo by Jessica Deeks

 

Josephine Etowa remembers being discharged from the hospital after her daughter, Ntami Enang, was born in Canada and was pleasantly surprised to find out there was no hospital bill waiting for her. “I was already living the Canadian dream — universal health care,” she says.

An internationally educated nurse from Nigeria, Etowa returned to school for a bachelor’s, master’s and PhD in nursing, and has worked ever since to keep improving the country’s health care system as both a practising nurse and an academic.

Today, 25 years since her arrival, Etowa is a professor in the faculty of health sciences at the University of Ottawa and the Marie Des Anges Loyer DaSilva Chair in Public Health Nursing. Her academic research, which is grounded in more than 23 years of clinical practice, focuses on inequity in health and health care, as well as maternal-newborn health.

“It is especially important for other internationally educated nurses and people from historically marginalized backgrounds like immigrants, aboriginal people and socio-economically disadvantaged people,” she says.

She remembers what it was like being an immigrant and a single mother with little family support, while working and raising two hard-of-hearing children (her son, Deval Enang, was born three years after her daughter). She says many people helped her during her integration as a newcomer.

“I became very active in my community and made good friends along the way who served as family, and a sounding board,” says Etowa.

She repays her good fortune by mentoring aspiring nurses and giving back to myriad community and health organizations. To name a few, she sits on the board of the African Caribbean Council for HIV in Ontario, volunteers with Nigerian Canadian association AkwaCross, and is a founding member and the past president of the Health Association of African Canadians.

“I hope to be a shoulder on which others can stand on as they navigate the Canadian system,” says Etowa, who has received many awards for her academic and community contributions.

Presently, Etowa wants to expand her focus in global health equity research and community development internationally. “I want to scale up my work to an international level with the goal of using the knowledge and skills gained in Canada to advance current research in low- and middle-income countries.”

Source: www.canadianimmigrant.ca

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