Keronique Palmer yearning to continue medicine degree

Cecelia Campbell-Livingston/Gleaner Writer

Keronique Palmer has just one dream, and that is to complete the journey she has started at The University of the West Indies, Mona, pursuing her bachelor of medicine, bachelor of surgery degree for the 2021-2026 period.

As the end of semester exams approach, she is uncertain she will be able to sit it as she must come up with half of the $4,349,800 (US$28,000) tuition fee before the start of the exam.

Added to that, if any payment is not made, she could be charged a one per cent late fee which would be added to her tuition fee.

So while others dream of fancy presents for the Yuletide season, Palmer has just one wish, one she is praying for earnestly, and that is that a good Samaritan will come forward and assist her to realise her dreams.

Sharing about her passion to enter the medical field, Palmer said it has been driven largely by the core values instilled in her by her faith and her family.

“As far as my memory dates, I have always had a keen interest in doctors. I vividly remember being so curious about their profession. I was in complete awe when I realised how much their role revolves around helping and caring for others. Just the idea of being a part of a profession focused on facilitating people to lead healthier and happier lives was enough for me,” she shared.

With a love and natural inclination towards math and science, Palmer always believed that she would one day end up in the medical field.

From attending Montego Bay High School for Girls, to Montego Bay Community College and matriculating to the UWI, Palmer admits to being mesmerised by the human body and how it functions.

Medicine, she shared, pairs her two greatest joys – science and helping others.

Acknowledging that all dreams come with their fair share of challenges – personal and educational – she said she is also convinced that anything worthwhile is worth working hard for.

Filled with faith, Palmer is praying that just as the birth of Christ brought hope to the world, she is praying that the season will also bring a reason to hope for her, too, by seeing her debts being cleared and getting the opportunity to sit her semester finals.

It is a long, hard road, but she has already taken the first step and with the conviction that medicine is her calling. She is hoping others will help her with the next steps it will take to get to her destination.

Having got a taste while observing an operation being performed by skilled doctors, Palmer said she is more motivated now more than ever, to follow in their footsteps.

“I know this journey will be a rough one, but I trust that it will prompt me to appreciate each and every patient, research, and project I will come across,” she stated.

Palmer is now in danger of not going on to her second semester as she has barely made any payments towards her tuition.

“I am living on hope and a prayer while I try to stay positive, but at this point, fear has begun to set in that my dream will slip through my fingers. It would be a heartbreak, to be so close and …” she trailed off, getting emotional as she tried to stop the tears that threatened to flow.

“All I want for Christmas is just a chance, a chance to continue my journey which will one day see me making a difference in the field of medicine,” she said.