From Serving Donuts to Serving Patients
I AM AFRICAN & I CAN is a women’s empowerment blog highlighting stories of Black women’s struggles and successes.
By Hadiatou Wann| 01/29/21
Hassatou Diallo, MPAS, PA was born in Guinea, Conakry. She spent summer breaks with her grandparents in Labe. At the age of 16, she was married off, a decision that made sense to her at the time because most of her friends were married. At the age of 18, her father acquired a Visa for her to travel to the United States, where she would join her husband.
Even though she wanted to study abroad in France, once she arrived in the United States, She braced herself for success. Despite the language barrier, after only one month in New York, Hassatou started working at a doughnut and coffee company.
From the beginning, she knew that she wanted more out life and aimed to work in the medical field as a Medical Doctor or Registered Nurse.
After taking ESL (English as a Second Language) classes, a 9-month course and 3 months of interning, she landed a Medical Assistant job. Within that time frame, she met a Physician Assistant who worked in the surgery department. Once she observed the PA for some time, Haassatou admired the way the PA cared for patients and the fact that she was able to prescribe medication. Hassatou developed an interest in the profession and began to ask the PA more questions.
Although she was a bright girl with big dreams, for some years, she felt trapped in a marriage that resulted in a split. After ending an 8-year marriage that was abusive, Hassatou realized that 8 years of her life were spent tossing her dreams in the back burner. However, she was prepared to regain full control of her future.
She admits that when she decided to free herself from what was holding her back (a toxic marriage), she was able to push herself to go after her biggest aspirations. “I didn’t know I had so much inside of me,” expressed Hassatou about realizing her potential after a divorce.
While pursuing her bachelor’s in Biology, with no room for a social life, for 7 days she busied herself with work and school assignments that she sometimes had to work on at the hospital. This year, she reached her biggest milestone— earning her master’s in Physician Assistant studies— a moment that brought tears to her eyes as her son hooded her during a virtual graduation.
Some of the measures Hassatou took to position herself as a qualified candidate were volunteering at a nursing home, where she engaged in activities with the elderly. Out of thousands of applicants, only 35 are admitted into the PA program. During the interview, applicants are given a random topic and have to write a convincing essay surrounding social issues. She also did community service, maintained good grades, received remarkable letters of recommendation and penned an inspiring personal statement.
One of the toughest decisions she had to make was to resign from her job in order to fully concentrate on her studies. To do this, she saved one year worth of rent and expenses.
“Decide if this is really the route [you] want. If you don’t love it, you may not finish it,” Hassatou said. Her advice to anyone who wants to maximize their chances of being enrolled in a PA program is to apply to at least five schools, look at the requirements, and the amount of clinical hours you need. Volunteering at a hospital is one way to complete clinical hours, she says. Most importantly, Hassatou says to do more than what is required of you. If the school you are applying to asks for 500 hours of volunteer work, double the amount so you can stand out from other applicants.
Mamata Bah, Co-founder of the Guinean Students Association expressed: “I met Hassatou back in 2017, while GSA was recruiting volunteers. She happened to be the only one out of so many to respond to our call.”
“Hassatou is a very positive individual, we clicked from the minute we met, and since then we have become friends/sisters. She is ambitious, courageous and hardworking. She definitely has a bright future and her graduation from the PA program is just the beginning of a successful journey, and I can’t wait to witness those days,” Mamata added.
One of Hassatou’s long-term goals is to create a nonprofit that combats healthcare issues in Guinea and partner with some of her friends in the medical field to do volunteer work in Guinea.
Despite facing a turbulent marriage in the past, Hassatou never gave up on her hopes of breaking into the medical field. Her success story teaches us even if life’s challenges force us to go on a hiatus, to never, EVER, give up on our dreams.
Welcome to Hassatou’s World
“A strong woman is able to achieve, follow her dreams despite all the challenges she faces in her life. She inspires, uplifts others and can be happy for others’ successes.”
“Are you doing something to please others while you’re miserable? The only thing that matters is what Allah thinks of you!”
Hassatou has 2 kids. She enjoys traveling and reading.
“Success is how do you achieve what you want and how many others can you bring with you?”
Connect with Hassatou
Instagram: @hafsa_barry
Facebook: Hafsa Diallo
Email: fbarrydiallo.84@gmail.com
Read other success stories here: www.iamafricanandican.info/blog
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