May 2018

The Spark | Ignite/Connect/Achieve www.thesparkng.com www.thesparkng.com The Spark | Ignite/Connect/Achieve
Dr. Ola Brown
On a Social Mission
- By Lanre Solarin
Dr Ola Brown is a medical doctor, a trainee helicopter pilot and an entrepreneur
who founded West Africa’s first indigenous air ambulance service, the Flying
Doctors Nigeria which saves hundreds of lives across the region every year,
especially in the oil and gas industry, rendering medical evacuation services.
She is extremely passionate about healthcare in Africa and works with various
foundations, charities and governments to improve standards of healthcare. Dr
Ola studied medicine and surgery at the Hull York Medical School after which she
worked in Acute Medicine in the UK. She then went on to be awarded the Japanese
MEXT scholarship which allowed her to further her studies in Tokyo, Japan. She
also has a certificate in economic policy making from IE business school, Spain.
She has published two medical textbooks ‘EMQ’s in Paediatrics’ and ‘Pre-Hospital
Care for Africa as well as articles in the British Medical Journal, New York Times
and the Huffington Post. She has received multiple awards and nominations and is
also a TED fellow, an Aspen Fellow and has been honoured by the world economic
forum as a Young Global Leader.
She is a member of the American College of Emergency Physicians, international
editor of the Journal of Emergency Services and a LinkedIn top ten global
Healthcare Writer.
In this interview, Dr. Ola Brown shares her perspective on what social
entrepreneurship really is and a guide to building a sustainable social enterprise.
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