The Lord Our Shepherd

The Lord is my shepherd;
    I have everything I need.
He lets me rest in fields of green grass
    and leads me to quiet pools of fresh water.
He gives me new strength.
He guides me in the right paths,
    as he has promised.
Even if I go through the deepest darkness,
    I will not be afraid, Lord,
    for you are with me.
Your shepherd's rod and staff protect me.

You prepare a banquet for me,
    where all my enemies can see me;
you welcome me as an honored guest
    and fill my cup to the brim.
I know that your goodness and love will be with me all my life;
    and your house will be my home as long as I live.

My Reflection: Is the LORD My Shepherd?

One of the questions we often finding ourselves asking especially during challenging and difficult moments is, “Is the Lord really my Shepherd?”

The answer is unequivocally “YES!” The Lord is our shepherd irrespective of the challenges we may be going through because Jesus Christ lay down his life for us and by so doing pave the way for eternal reconciliation with our God and the grace to cope with the difficulties of life here on earth.

And the Lord is our shepherd because as he said, “It is I who deal death and give life”, meaning our lives are in his hand and only the Lord, our God have the power over everything that we do under the sun.

This reflection is a simple attempt as I retrospect on some of my challenges in life and through them all was able to see the handiwork of the Lord who truly is my shepherd. The almighty God has continued to supply all my needs according to his riches in glory and not according to my expectations or limitations.

I am living a life that basically amazes me beyond words because of the infinite depth of God’s love, mercy and divine providence. My twin brother and I were born prematurely and never given the opportunity to live because of the high mortality rate for premature babies based on the no availability of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) facilities in the 70’s in my native town of Otukpo, Nigeria. If not for God, who is my shepherd I will not be here writing this reflection at all.

As I meditate on Psalm 23 or the Psalm of David based on its Hebrew Title, I cannot help but cherish the love that God has continued to manifest in our lives. Having being born prematurely, I understand the odds of survival especially as a result of the lack of or inadequacy of the lungs lubricant; the surfactant protein. In medical school this knowledge acquired during my course in Respiratory Physiology, enables me to refer to my God as “My Surfactant.”

The Lord is my shepherd; I have everything I need

Jesus Christ is the good shepherd that lay down his life for his sheep in order for them to have life and have it abundantly! Additionally, he told us to ask, seek and knock and we shall receive, find and the door will be open. Since I worship and believe in God and the intercession of my Lord and savior Jesus Christ, I therefore have everything I need to survive in this world and with a joyful expectation of the world to come.

He lets me rest in fields of green grass and leads me to quiet pools of fresh water

Life can be dangerous, difficult and sometimes very frustrating beyond express, nevertheless the presence of my God through Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son provide me with the peace that this world can never give. Through my labor and daily tasks and in spite of the frustrations, because I focus my attention on God rather than the challenges I faced, I am able to navigate from hateful, frustrating and inimical circumstances without losing my sanity.

The amazing grace part of this line is the fact that Jesus Christ said, “I leave you in peace, my peace I give you.” When your colleagues, family members and friends and those you encountered begin to see you radiate with joy in the midst of sorrows, happiness when frustrations abound and calmness in the midst of the most negatively excitable moment, give the credit to your God who never fail in his promises of making sure that his peace abide with us at all times.

He gives me new strength.

The Lord is the strength of my life;of whom shall I fear? Absolutely you have no reason to fear any man or mortal because the reality of our lives on earth is that we are born with nothing and shall depart this world the same way. He that put his trust in the Lord shall never be tired, because his strength shall be renewed for every task he or she is about to embark on.

As you focus on God, you will learn to depend on his divine providence and infinite love for you and this realization is a fundamental source of your strength being renewed. Do your best and leave the rest to God and not the other way round.

He guides me in the right paths, as he has promised.

Have you ever been faced with the challenge of making a choice that might determine whether you will get the job after being unemployed for say about three years? What if one of the choices is to do something that is against your faith as a Christian?

For instance, assuming you are being asked to falsify a document or claim a certification that you do not have in order to apparently has an edge, are you willing to do such a thing?

The right paths of the Lord our God is love! If our actions are dictated by love of God and therefore love of man, we are assured of tolling in the right paths and his promises will abide with us.

In order for us to love God, we must love our brothers and sisters that we can see with our own eyes! These are our neighbors; people we encountered during the course of the day, strangers that seek our assistance, the guy on the street staring at us in expectations of kindness, mercy and compassion, the refugees that are displaced from their homes, the weak and helpless, the downtrodden, the foreigners in your midst, the uneducated that is being taken advantaged of by others, those that are being ridiculed and mocked for their religious belief and alien culture, and what about the woman that is being molested by his partner or the husband that have to deal with the shame of unable to feed his family, and the kids that are exposed to negativity?

The right paths of the Lord are a challenge for all of us that claimed the Lord is our shepherd. Our God is telling us today, that whenever we love our neighbors as ourselves, we are being guided on his right paths and indeed he shall be our true shepherd. The opposite of the Lord is our shepherd is simple ‘we are our shepherd’ implying we do not need God in our lives and rather turn to our intellect, riches and positions to act like mini-gods and expects people to worship us.

Even if I go through the deepest darkness, I will not be afraid, Lord, for you are with me.

The deepest darkness a man could ever imagine is eternal condemnation! Jesus Christ admonished us by saying “Do not be afraid of the one who can kill the body….but rather fear the one that can kill the body and equally the soul.”

A man is made up of the physical (body or flesh) and the spiritual (soul or spirit) and therefore to be a holistic being or individual, we must take into account these two dimensional attributes of our nature.

In the physical ream, we are subject of persecutions, betrayal and denigration, hatred, weakness and denial as a result of either complying with our Christian belief or negating them completely! These challenges manifest in various ways; lost of opportunities, promotions, and inability to make a breakthrough in a chosen career, marital and human relationship difficulties, loss of job or joblessness, homelessness, hunger, nakedness, thirst, injustices, discriminations such as racism, religious bigotry and even geo-political and socio-economic.

When we are faced with these kinds of physical challenges, our responses matters and without doubt, can become a yardstick for others to see God through us or out of pride and foolishness, we can become an emblem of negativity too.

In terms of our spiritual warfare, the difficulties we encountered are intended to draw us closer to God and not away, if only we can put our trust, hope and faith in the ever loving, compassionate and loving God. Whenever we declare for God in our lives, it does not mean everything is going to be okay; we will live in peace, prosperity and enjoyment. On the contrary, our challenges may seems to multiply one hundred folds, and the reason why is not difficult to understand; this world is not our final destination and whenever you chose God over evil, you are working against the worldly status quo of sin and evil which culminates in death.

Consequently, the Lord is my shepherd when I walk through the deepest darkness of life because, in his presence I am given the courage, comfort and support of knowing that the almighty God being faithful to his promises shall never forsake nor abandon those who trust in him.

No matter what you are going through, whether is the harshness in a relationship that is turning sour, unemployment or inability to sustain your family, hatred for your Christian belief, sickness that may be terminal or without adequate cure, questionable habits that is difficult to overcome, suicidal thoughts due to despair and the decision to wanting to give up, today God is telling you not to take any decision without first consulting him!

Ask God for help and you will receive it, even if it is not in the fashion you expected, but God will eventually come through for you and for me too.

Your shepherd’s rod and staff protect me

If you recall the rod in Moses hand and the miracles it performed prior, during and after the children of God were freed from slavery in Egypt, then you can imagine the enormous opportunities that our God is creating for you at this very moment!

Our God shall always protect us by his rod and staff, which are manifested in his words of eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ.

True protection is the presence of peace in the midst of war, joy in the midst of sorrow, hope in despair and faith in doubt and fear.

On the other hand, human protection is essentially and most exclusively dependent on the concert of physical protections as in the use of gun to chase away the “bad guy”, fencing our houses, installing alarms and even programming our cell phones to notify us about the movement of loved ones.

Whenever we place our trust completely on God’s protections, we are rest assured that he shall never fail us and like the Pillar of Cloud by day and the Pillar of Fire by night, no evil fashion against us can prosper.

You prepare a banquet for me….

Ever imagine how it felt like to receive an achievement award from an adversary?

Have you ever being in a situation where after receiving an award, a crucial recommendation or successfully gaining an employment and you come back home and within the quietness of your heart ask yourself, “How does this happened?”

Well, without doubt it happened that way because the almighty God have decided to prepare a banquet for you!

In order for our God to welcome us as an honored guest and to fill our cups with his goodness and love, we must be willing at all times to love him and love our neighbors as ourselves. This is crucial because, it is not all gifts and prosperity that comes from God.

If you kill, betray and use other forms of devilish machinations to become a recipient of an award, employment or prosperity, be rest assured, since these did not come from God, it shall surely depart from you when you most needed them and or you will never have true peace with any of such prosperity.

I know that your goodness and love will be with me all my life; and your house will be my home as long as I live

Amazing grace indeed! King David experienced tremendous difficulties in his life here on earth, but never doubted the goodness of the Lord his God! This is the same David that defeated Goliath with a sling and stone, and from being a shepherd boy became the King and ruler of the people of God.

In spite of all his shortcomings, David was very open to his God; praising the Lord for his infinite mercy, compassion and kindness, for his love and gifts of life, and for his faithfulness, steadfastness and enduring promises.

Like King David, if the Lord is my shepherd, then I ought to have the same kind of faith in him too!

The challenges King David faced may not be as the same as mine, nevertheless, the commonalities are that they are difficult, excruciating and at times so discouraging that we might be tempted to give up!

Whenever we are faced with the complexities of life and the ultimate decision to throw in the towel or walk away from a relationship that seems unable to be reset or a dream and goal in life that no longer seem attainable, King David should be one of our compass in life.

My father always used to tell us growing up that the only thing that kills is death! He will go further by saying, poverty does not kill, illiteracy does not kill and definitely sickness does not kill, only death kills!

This message has stuck to me from a very young age and everyday it emanates new meaning to me, especially the attribute of knowing the limitations of life and death and the quest of mankind desires to conquer the world.

If the Lord is my shepherd, my ultimate desire in life will be to dwell in the house of the Lord or put in another way, I must become the true temple of the Lord my God. Only then will I be able to see the goodness and love of the Lord in my life.

How is the Lord your shepherd today?

May the good Lord bless his words in our hearing today!

Prayer

Dear heavenly Father,

Thank you so much for being the true one and only good shepherd in my life.

Help me to see you in every circumstance that assails me today.

Above all, open the eyes of my heart that I may learn to love you above all things and love my neighbor as myself.

Grant me your grace and fill me with your Holy Spirit, so that my greatest desire is to be counted worthy of your eternal kingdom, and I ask all these through the mighty name of your Only Begotten Son and my Lord and savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Ref: Psalm 23, Deuteronomy 32, Matthew 7, & 10, John 14, 1Samuel 14, Exodus 14, 1 John 4, Psalm 27

podeh2016.

Lord, come to my aid!

I have waited, waited for the LORD

and he stooped toward me.

The LORD heard my cry.

He drew me out of the pit of destruction,

out of the mud of swamps;

he set my feet upon a crag;

he made firm my steps.

And he put a new song into my mouth,

a hymn to our God.

Many shall look on in awe and trust in the LORD.

Though I am afflicted and poor, yet the LORD thinks of me,

You are my help and my deliverer;

                                                         O my God, hold not back!        

Ref: adopted from Psalm 40

Podeh2016

Rio Olympic 2016: Simone Manuel “Turning Point” Victory

On August 11, 2016 at the ongoing Rio Olympic, a well accomplished but little known African-American swimmer by name Simone Manuel took the world by surprise when she won the Women’s 100m Freestyle setting an Olympic record in the process sharing the honor with Canadian Penny Oleksiak. This international accomplishment made Princess Simone Manuel the first African-American female swimmer to achieve such a feat!

Without an iota of doubt, this unprecedented victory has effectively put to rest and finally tear down the #BerlinWall of the racism that have perpetuated the game of swimming in the United States of America. It is therefore no longer a viable argument that Blacks cannot swim, on the contrary, her victory vehemently and pragmatically put to an end the systemic orchestration of turning away African-Americans from continuing to contribute to the advancement of the country.

For a moment let’s just imagine there was no Simone Manuel among the Women 100m Freestyle on this fateful day; the United States of America could not have won gold! The implications are simple; when giving the opportunity and support, there are millions of “others” who are ready to outshine the status quo.

The lessons of this monumental victory are numerous and beyond mere expression, nevertheless it suffices to mention but a few:

(1)   As a candle illuminating another candle does not diminishes your light! Consequently, there must be the audacious articulations to become inclusive and help bring about greater diversity and opportunity for all, because the gold medalist might be another outlier like Simone Manuel

(2)  Our generation must challenge ourselves to stop teaching the young generation detrimental attitudes such as racism and ignorance of the necessity of empathy! It was very difficult for Princess Simone Manuel to thrive as a swimmer simply because of the color of her skin! That must change and this change must begin with me, then you and finally others too.

(3)  It is about time we stop pretending that we are not racists nor dogmatic in the manner we treat people that does not look like us. However, what we can do to ameliorate the negativity of discrimination is to focus on the prowess that originates from diversity. We cannot begin to assume that God is foolish to have created humanity with varieties of color, shape and height! Can you imagine a world where everything looks the same?

Princess Simone Manuel is the “Turning Point” that we have all been searching for in this country and my hope and expectations are that given what she has accomplished under duress, as a nation and as a people it is about time we tear down the ugly walls of racism, hatred and other forms of discrimination that denigrate humanity and deprive individuals opportunity to showcase their talents.

Finally the #BerlinWall(Racism) in the America swimming federation is crumbling, tumbling and crashing down and thanks to Simone Manuel for being the instrument of the change we have all been waiting for!

Rio2016 is yet another Olympic that helps draw humanity closer to the idealism of unity in diversity and I am happy to be a witness to such a monumental moment, which kind of reminds me of the presidency of President Barack Obama in the political spectrum, and the much anticipated possibility of a female presidency in the United States of America!

Podeh2016

The Christian Challenge

The challenges facing contemporary Christians are no different from those that faced the Apostles and Christians before us, especially in context of the suffering Messianic messages of our faith.

The hallmark of Christianity is the ability for us to allow the grace of God to work through us by first and foremost believing in the fact that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, the Son of the living God and through such faith, come to love God above all things and crucially love our neighbors as ourselves for the love of God.

Jesus Christ did not promised us a world free of sorrows, pains and hurts, envy, hatred and killings, betrayal, war and other forms of inhumanity. On the contrary he promised that the Holy Spirit, the Comforter shall never forsake nor abandon us in the midst of trials and tribulations, and if we hold on, we shall inherit everlasting life.

As a result, any individual that profess Christianity must be ready to accept persecution, rejections and even martyrdom for the sake of Jesus Christ.  This acceptance to carry our cross is actually what differentiate the Christian faith and religion from the others and make mankind better in dealings with God and man.

The practical challenges that we encountered as Christians are uncountable, mindboggling and beyond human scope, and it is this obvious realization that informed Jesus Christ to emphatically states that we should come to him all of us that are heavily burden and find rest in him!

Love

How can we claim to be Christians and hate our neighbors?

Jesus Christ even forgave his enemies and prayed that his heavenly Father should not punish them due to their ignorance. In our world today, there are millions of instances where we fail to love and instead propagate hatred with the resulting consequences of the orchestration of the cycles of violence, mistrust and killings, discriminations in the form of race, riches and socio-economic statues among others.

Our inability to love as Jesus Christ has directed is fundamentally the basis of the nefarious acts being perpetrated globally and Christians are being challenged to once more be the light of the world!

Whenever we pretend that the evil done to another does not bother us, we are actually participating in the same wicked act and consequently cannot claim to be a Christian under such circumstances.

Whenever we pretend that racism does not bother us, since we are not at the receiving end, we cannot claim to be a Christian under such circumstances either.

We can preach even to the fish, perform miracles and heal the sick, provide comfort and sustainability to others and even be the instrument to bring someone out of poverty, but if these acts are performed not from love, but as a result of our duty-conscious mind, God will not reward us at all!

Love is self-giving, the offering of our convenience in order to manifest the true image and likeness of Jesus Christ in our lives, so that we can become the instrument of his love, hope and faith in our world.

Actions

If you love Jesus Christ, you must treat the poor lovingly and help support them in any way possible for the sake of God and not your emotions.

If you love Jesus Christ, you cannot hate immigrants and refugees!

If you love Jesus Christ, you cannot hate Muslims and other non-Christians!

If you love Jesus Christ, you cannot be a racist!

If you love Jesus Christ, you cannot be a hater!

If you love Jesus Christ, you cannot be a killer, betrayal and a destroyer!

If you love Jesus Christ, you cannot be a warmonger!

If you love Jesus Christ, you cannot be a devil advocate!

If you love Jesus Christ, you cannot withhold help from the less privileged!

Going to Church every Sunday does not make an individual a Christian!

Having the knowledge of the Bible does not make an individual a Christian!

Bearing a Christian name does not make one a Christian!

And living in a Christian family does not make one a Christian!

Today, the challenges we faced are rooted in whether we are willing to love as Jesus Christ demanded of us or we want to love as the world advocated.

The love that the world is advocating are synonymous to that which after it has been given leave the giver in a state of emptiness, providing only a temporal excitement, because it is not rooted in the Lord Jesus Christ!

When you are able to love the loveless, help the helpless, and help bring meaning to meaningless situations such as war, famine and refugees, racism, dichotomy and so much hatred in the world by living as Jesus Christ did; self-sacrificing, being of generous heart and an empathizer and above all loving every human beings as a child of God irrespective of their religion, socio-economic status, their sins or shortcomings and other forms of socio-pathological behavior, then by the grace of God, you are an emblem of Christianity.

What make us a Christian is our belief in the fact that Jesus Christ is the Messiah and living the lifestyles that he mandated us to live in this world, so that through our actions, others may come to the realization that He and his heavenly Father are one, he is the Son of the living God and the savior of the world.

Prayer

Dear heavenly Father,

In the name of Jesus Christ, your only Begotten- Son and the savior of the world, help me to love you above everything on earth and to love my neighbors as myself.

On my own I cannot do this and therefore I ask for the gifts of the Holy Spirit, so that I will be made strong in your grace and bring glory to your holy name today.

Help me to see you in all mankind irrespective of their religion, race and status and may I become an instrument of your peace today.

Amen

Podeh2016

ACT OF CONTRITION

O my God, I am heartily sorry for all my sins:

Whenever I fail to love you!

Whenever I swear falsely by your name!

Whenever I fail to love my neighbors!

Whenever I refuse to forgive others who hurt me!

Whenever I cheat others!

Whenever I denigrate and humiliate others!

Whenever I discriminate against others!

Whenever I kill others, through my false witnessing!

Whenever I am greedy and self-centered!

Whenever I betray others!

Whenever I maliciously condemn others!

Whenever I hate the poor, the weak and the helpless!

Whenever I support evil, war and hate!

Whenever I use my talents to hurt others!

In choosing to do wrong and failing to do good, I have sinned against you whom I should love above all things, O Lord my God.

I firmly intend, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to do penance, to sin no more, and to avoid the occasions of sin. O my Jesus Christ you suffered and died for us, help me to die to self and be raise by your love.

In the name of Jesus Christ, my Lord and redeemer O my God have mercy on us.

Amen.

May the good Lord, our God bless us this day, as we live his love in our lives today.

Ref: The Essential Catholic Prayer Book, with some modifications by me!

Podeh2016

Medicine: Transplantation Sickle Cell Treatment

RE: UI Health validates cure for sickle cell in adults

Physicians at the University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System have cured 12 adult patients of sickle cell disease using a unique procedure for stem cell transplantation from healthy, tissue-matched siblings.

The transplants were the first to be performed outside of the National Institutes of Health campus in Maryland, where the procedure was developed. Physicians there have treated 30 patients, with an 87 percent success rate. The results of the phase I/II clinical trial at UI Health, in which 92 percent of treated patients were cured, are published online in the journal Biology of Blood & Marrow Transplantation.

Please read more about this historic advancement in the treatment of sickle cell disease by clicking on the link below.

https://news.uic.edu/ui-health-validates-cure-for-sickle-cell-in-adults

The Love of God

 

“Amen, I say to you,

Unless you turn and become like children,

You will not enter the Kingdom of heaven.

 See that you do not despise one of these little ones.

~Matthew 18: 3, 10

 

Many at times, we here about Jesus Christ conversation with Nicodemus and how he spoke to this scholar of the law of the Hebrew that “Unless you are born again, you cannot enter into the Kingdom of heaven!”

In the above text, Jesus Christ is heard telling his disciples that unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven.

By simple arithmetic, the following deduction suffice:

If you are born again (a) = you will enter the Kingdom of heaven (Salvation)

If you turn and become like children (b) = you will enter the Kingdom of heaven (Salvation). That is;

 A = Salvation and

 B= salvation,

 Therefore a= b or in order words, for you to be born again, you must turn and become like children. How can I become like a child in order to enter the Kingdom of heaven?

Very simple; the hallmark of being a child is enshrined in the characteristics of humility, honesty and mercy or forgiveness!

In a way, God display affection for us like children do to one another and that is why Jesus Christ admonition today is a reflection of the godliness that reside in children and therefore the necessity for us to become like a child in order to enter the Kingdom of God!

 

Qualities of God’s Love

 

The love of God is an individual love!

The almighty God focuses on each an every one of us in a very peculiar, specific and unique fashion. He has undivided attention for each of us that can only be achievable through his divine providential care.

God cares for us as individuals, meaning, you are treated as if the entire world depends on you and no any other.

The challenges for the Christian who wants to inherit the Kingdom of God becomes, how are you open to treating people in a way that they are peculiarly loved by you?

This individual love was further enumerated in the Parable of the Lost Sheep and the Seeking Shepherd.

In order for you to exercise individual love, as our God requires it, you must not discriminate against people on the basis of religion, status or orientation. You must also seek to love people, not waiting for them to love you first.

 

The love of God is a patient love!

 

 Like the good shepherd he is always waiting for us to change our attitude into that of a childlike behavior and open up freely to him. How are we ready to be patient with one another is the necessity of this kind of love!

If you are married, how often do you give your partner the chance to amend his or her ways?

If you are a child, how often do you tolerate your parents’ admonition or a sibling’s correction or even outside the home? Do you exercise that patient love enough by being open to welcome an offender?

If you are the leader, or the servant of all, patient love is crucial too, because it enables us to truly become the likeness and image of the living God.

The love of God is a seeking love!

God does not even wait for us to come to him after we commit yet another sin, before like the good shepherd he takes his torch at our darkest moment to search and find us! In order to be like a child, we too must be people that have a seeking love for humanity begin from within our family.

 

The love of God is a rejoicing love!

Rejoicing, being joyous and outmost happiness at what is good in us is another quality of God’s love for us. In the same way that God rejoices after he rescue us from sin, hatred and jealousy, anger, and greediness, we ought to also rejoice with our brethren whenever we become an instrument of a positive change in their life. The love of God in us will make it possible and easy for us to be glad when other people succeed in life!

 

The love of God is protection love!

Touch not my anointed and do my prophet no harm! That is the God that we serve and that is the depth of his love for us too. In our situation, do we exercise the same protection love for people we encounter in life?

When Jesus Christ challenges us to become like children, it is obvious that he is not telling us to go back into our mother’s womb, on the contrary, he is encouraging us to turn to him, the savior of the world and allow our hearts to be filled with humility, honesty and love, and most importantly to be free of envy, evil and hatred toward other people, especially those who feel might have hurt us or do not really look like us!

 

The love of God is Children-like love

 

The children-like love enables us to easily forgive and never intend to use negative experiences as retaliation tool in the future. A child careless about the color of someone skin, his or her educational background or any other forms of discriminatory yardstick as long as they all get along. The children-like love does not keep account of hurt; it is kind, simple and true!

If you claim to be a born again Christian and you cannot love your neighbor as God demand of you, please ask God for his grace to make your heart to become like that of a child, so that you can enter the kingdom of God, otherwise, vanity upon vanity is vanity.

 

Prayer

 

Dear heavenly Father,

Please help me to love as you would; to become like children who are honest, kind and humble of heart.

On my own I cannot do anything and therefore I ask for your grace, compassion and mercy to overcome my sin and become a better lover today.

May I become the instrument of your love and be able to bring peace, same love and prosperity to all that I will encounter today.

In Jesus Christ mighty name, I have prayed.

Amen!

 

Ref: Matthew 18, Psalm 105, and Ecclesiastes 1

Podeh2016

 

 

 

 

 

Becoming a Medical Laboratory Scientist and More in USA

If you are a medical laboratory scientist in the developing countries of the world, especially in Africa and particularly from Nigeria, then this synopsis on how to become board certified and more in the USA may be valuable to you! This is in response to the many numerous inquires I have continued to receive from potential immigrants to the United States that wants to start their career in the medical laboratory science and then advance to other fields in the medical profession.

While this may not be comprehensive, nevertheless it can serve as a guide toward a successful integration and advancement of career in this allied healthcare professionals. There is certain information, I will refer to as steps that I believe are important for those aspiring to immigrate to the USA and practice as medical laboratory scientist to become aware before taking this crucial leap! Again, please bear in mind the articulations here are tentative and based on my experiences particularly since I am resident in the State of Maryland, which is on the East coast of the country.


Step 1: Professional Status in Nigeria



Are you a medical laboratory scientist; in a nutshell, an allied healthcare professional that assist in the diagnosis, treatment and prophylaxis of diseases in the hospital setting?

 In Nigeria, a medical laboratory scientist has a baccalaureate degree, having spent a minimum of five years in the university, one year of internship and depending on the age of the individual have also serve one year of national volunteer service under the auspices of the National Youth Service Corp program. Most of the graduates in Nigeria take a major in specific areas during their final year and are generalist by default.

Additionally, a baccalaureate degree holder in other science disciplines such as Biology, Microbiology, and Biochemistry, just to name but a few that have also taken professional training with the Nigerian Medical Laboratory Council and have become licensed as such can also be considered as medical laboratory scientist. If you fall into either of these categories you are definitely in a position to easily transition your skill to the USA market.



Step 2: medical laboratory scientist in USA



The profession of medical laboratory science in the USA shares tremendous similarities with Nigeria, especially in context of the primary job responsibilities of her members or professionals.

However the university academic structure might be slightly different and it must also be emphasizes that unlike in Nigeria direct contact with patients or subjects are very limited! This is particularly important for medical laboratory scientist who are looking forward to practicing in the USA; the opportunity to interact with your patients is almost near zero chances, except you are in the phlebotomy section (general phlebotomy or blood bank donation center).



It is also important to emphasize that in terms of practice majority of medical laboratory scientist start off as generalist before taking interest in specific areas. Those who aspire to practice in the USA must be aware of this important fact, as it will help expand your job searching potential.

Step 3: Immigration – Part one



In order to be able to work in the USA, you must be a holder of work visa and in most cases it is the H1-B specialty visa or be a permanent resident or green card holder and or be a citizen of the USA. Additionally, if you are a dependent of a H-1B visa holder, that is a H-4 visa holder, you can be eligible to work depending on whether the primary holder has an existing approved I-140 or immigrant worker petition.



Step 4: Credential Evaluation



There are roughly 195 countries in the world and only about 53 of them list English as an official language. Fortunately for Nigerian professionals we share the commonality of same official language with the USA and that is a bonus!

Credential evaluation is the way in which academic and professional degrees earned in one country are compared to those earned in another. This is a very important step toward immigrating to the USA and working as a professional medical laboratory scientist.

As a matter of urgency, credential evaluation is one of the most critical steps that can help you apply for processional certifications or licensure and even to further your post-baccalaureate education.


There are many credential evaluators in the USA, however it is essential to make sure that the one you are intending to use meet your primary goal. For instance, if you are preparing for the evaluation of your academic and professional credentials from organizations like the ASCP and AMT, you may want to contact the website of these certifying professional bodies for ease of reference, since information changes so often and you do not want to invest your time and money unwisely.

Examples of typically used Credential Evaluators are:

1. (1)    World Education Services; WWW.WES.ORG and
2. (2)   International Education Research Foundation WWW.IERF.ORG
3. (3)  In addition, there is also the Commission of Graduate of Foreign Nurses WWW.CGFNS.ORG, which through the VisaScreen Service offer their own academic and professional credential evaluations for professional medical laboratory scientist who are not US citizens and are seeking an occupational visa to work in the United States.

Step 5: Professional Licensure and Certification



In order to obtain professional licensure and or certification depending on the State of location within the USA, you must first and foremost subject your academic credential to an International Credential Evaluation company as discussed in step 4 above. Upon a successful completion, you can then be eligible to seat for the certification or licensure examination of the required professional body you are interested to become a member.



In the most recent development, various professional bodies in the medical laboratory profession have continued to work on various modalities that will make it very easy for professionals with international credentials to take a provincial certification and build upon that to become a fully certified member of the organization.



Two of the major professional bodies I will recommend are:

1. (1)   The American Society of Clinical Pathology (WWW.ASCP.ORG)
2. (2)   And the American Medical Technology (WWW.AMERICANMEDTECH.ORG)

Visit their respective website and read about how to become a certified member of the organization(s).

Step 6: Immigration- Part Two



Assuming you have successfully had your academic and professional credentials evaluated and have even received provincial certifications as an international or foreign trained medical laboratory scientist, the next task will be how to get a job in the USA!

I am not an attorney and neither do I make referral on job employment for companies within the USA, nevertheless, based on my experiences there are many hospitals, universities and research facilities that are very ready to employ foreign trained medical laboratory scientist. There are also staffing agencies within the country that can work with international professionals and based on the interview process will recommend your candidature to a potential employer.


Step 7: Career Advancement


Once you are integrated into the USA system as a medical laboratory scientist, you will notice that the necessity of career advancement is not peculiar to Nigeria alone. There are many ways you can upgrade your professional status and maintain relevance in the ever-dynamic disciplines in the world of science and technology.



Professional Advancement



This can easily be achievable through the various advance certification programs that are plentiful in the certifying or licensing agencies. The American Society of Clinical Pathology and American Medical Technology for instance have many advance training that enables the bench medical lab sc to become a supervisor, manager and director. This professional path improves upon technical and managerial skills and therefore helps the medical laboratory scientists to remain on top of his career.



Academic Advancement



This option enables the medical laboratory scientists to pursue post-baccalaureate academic progression. In the State of Maryland there are many universities that offers plenty and relevant programs that the medical laboratory scientists will be interested in exploring. Universities such as Johns Hopkins, University of Maryland and Historically Black Colleges and Universities such as Morgan State University, Bowie State University and Coppin State University and even Howard University are institutions that are easily affordable and relevant in these regards.



Career advancement is not limited to the medical laboratory scientist’s professions alone! In the USA you have an excellent pathway to becoming a medical doctor, pharmacist, dentist, Nurse Practitioner, scientist, among others. As a result, the medical laboratory scientists must never limit his or herself, but explore the endless opportunities and challenges that are out there to make the best use of the talents that is resident within.

For further assistance and guide regarding the process, please do not hesitate to inbox me with subject title: NIG-USA-MLS (ASCP)(AMT) 2016, at abodeofhaven1@gmail.com or write to C/O Ropan (NIG) Ltd. 3833 Seq Ave Baltimore, MD 21215



Disclaimer: This article above is provided for general information purposes only. Your use of any section of this article without adequate consultation with the primary institutions responsible for credential evaluations and professional certification is at your own risk, and you should not use any of these materials without first seeking legal and other professional advice.