By Emmanuel Addeh
A Nigerian-born medical professional, Prof. Iyalla Peterside, has emerged one of America’s best physicians for the year 2020.
Peterside who was named by the United States National Consumer Advisory Board and Todaysbestphysician.com, is a professor of paediatrics and neonatology at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School and a consultant at the Children’s Hospital, Philadelphia.
The health facility is considered one of the best children’s hospitals in the world and he has worked there for over 20 years.
The medical doctor was until recently the medical director of the neonatal intensive care unit at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital and the president of the Philadelphia Perinatal society.
He is a recipient of many awards from his colleagues and professional associations in the US, while his area of expertise is in the care of complex surgical neonates, infants needing extracorporeal support and babies with chronic lung disease.
He graduated from the University of Ibadan in 1985 and has practiced medicine in four continents of Africa, Europe , Asia and North America.
Peterside is among Nigerian professionals who constitute the most celebrated diaspora community in the US with Nigerians being top on the table of the most highly educated of all diaspora groups in the US.
Sixty one per cent of them hold at least a bachelor’s degree compared with 31 per cent of the total foreign-born population and 32 per cent of the US-born population, according to 2017 data from the Migration Policy Institute.
More than half of Nigerian immigrants (54 per cent) were most likely to occupy management positions, compared with 32 per cent of the total foreign-born population and 39 per cent of the US-born population.
Nigerians also dominate the creative arts sector in the US with President Joe Biden most recently appointing more of them to sensitive political offices than any other diaspora community.
