Reflections on our Healthcare System

I have been on both sides of the South African health care system since the lockdown was enacted – I volunteered and assisted for a couple of months at a Clinic in Orange Farm, and unfortunately had a family member spend a few weeks at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital (CMJAH) due to a terminal cancer diagnosis. My experiences as such have been contrasting and have shown both the best and the worst that our health care system has to offer.

The best aspects have come from doctors and nurses showing unbelievable courage, determination, empathy, work ethic, and ingenuity in running a clinic safely and smoothly in the light of a pandemic. Doctors and nurses who see literally hundreds of patients every day, and yet manage to give empathetic and personalized care to people. Doctors and nurses who take the time (despite the unimaginable patient burden) to teach and encourage students in every little aspect of patient care, from examining chest x-rays to dispensing medication, to taking adequate histories and communicating effectively with patients across all spectrums. Watching team leaders develop new plans to safely manage patient-load and to design systems to triage an entire community has been beyond awe-inspiring and incredibly motivating.

However, the one thing I feel I can take away from both scenarios is to say without a shadow of a doubt the kind of doctor I don’t want to become, and I hope to one day run a ward in the way it absolutely should be.

BEING HONEST: SELF-DOUBT AND FEELING OVERWHELMED

This week I wanted to talk about feeling overwhelmed with med school work and dealing with self-doubt and the so-called impostor syndrome

HOW TO STAY MOTIVATED

Here’s a topic that I get asked about quite often, and some points of view on how I stay motivated

Hope you enjoy it!

What’s YOUR Story?

These are strange and scary times indeed! Everywhere we look, every social media account, every Instagram post, every news article is centered on one thing and one thing only – Coronavirus. The impact that it is having across the world is mind-boggling to see,  and the stories of the effects (and after-effects) it is having on a global scale is sometimes difficult to comprehend in its scope.

I would like to open this blog post up to anyone who reads –

I would love to know your story and how this has affected you and your family? Where in the world are you? How is your country handling the pandemic? How has it affected you personally? What are your daily lives like at the moment? What are your circumstances? What are you most worried about? What has been the hardest thing for you to deal with at this stage? How do you foresee the coming weeks and months?

Feel free to write as much as you’d like! Who knows – maybe we can gain hope or perspective from the life you’re living right now!

It’s the one great thing about the internet – it allows us to connect with people across the world and to hear and share their stories. I’ve certainly shared many of mine over the last couple years, and would love to know yours now!

Keep safe!

Wade

My First Clinic Visit

This being our very first visit to a community clinic, I was feeling quite nervous when we stepped off the bus at Levai Mbatha Clinic in Evaton. Our little group was ushered into a doctor’s room, and we were divided into groups of 3 and assigned different wards to assist in. My group was assigned first the labour and maternity ward, followed by the women’s health ward, and finally (if there was still time) we could assist in casualty.

What an incredible learning experience! All my nerves were replaced almost immediately by excitement because the Sisters were very engaging and were happy for us to be (quite literally) as hands-on as possible! We were shown around the ward and within 5 minutes we were being guided through an entire examination of a woman in labour.

WE KILLED OUR “PATIENT” | Storytime

A little story from our respiratory workshop!

Wits GEMP Class of 2022 Student Stories: Barbara Moller

By Barbara Moller

My Story (Nutshell Version)

I never knew what I actually wanted to become or do with my life. My matric results from 1996 were probably good enough to get me into medicine and my father tried hard to convince me to choose a career in medicine. At that stage I wasn’t interested. In retrospect, mainly because I was afraid and didn’t believe that I would be able to do it…not very rational, I know. I probably needed more time to grow up and to experience life a little.

I studied BSc (Agric) Food Science & Technology between 1997 and 2000 at Tuks. In 2001 I landed a job as a pharmaceutical sales rep almost by accident. I was forced out of my comfort zone and developed skills and confidence that I found to be very valuable for life in general. Being a sales rep allows for a lot of flexibility as you plan and manage your own time to a large extent. This suited me especially after my children were born. My daughter was born in 2005 and my son in 2007.

Wits GEMP Class of 2022 Student Stories: Defne

By Defne Uludag

From a young age I spent many nights wondering about existence and my place on this Earth. Needless to say, it led to many sleepless nights and anxiety throughout the years as I searched for the answers. What it also led me to however, was the decision to pursue a medical career because I believed it would give my existence a purpose far greater than anything else ever could. I feel that once you go from ‘wanting’ to ‘needing’ to study medicine, it really changes how hard you are willing to work to achieve your goals.

As with many other students wanting to get into medicine, my high school marks were not enough to get me into first year medicine, so I decided I would go through the GEMP route.

I got accepted into biological sciences at Wits and at Pretoria University and opted to go to Pretoria seeing as I could try apply for mid-year entry into medicine there. My first semester marks turned out to be awful and so I received my second rejection. I decided to continue with a degree in Human physiology, Genetics and Psychology at Tuks also known as the “triple major” till I could write the WAPT and try for the third time.

NEW BLOG SERIES! Wits GEMP Class of 2022 Student Stories

I’ve been at medical school for two months now (only? It feels much longer than that!!) and the most incredible thing so far has been getting to know the different people in our class and hearing their stories of how they got in to medicine!

As someone who spent 8 years trying to get in, I know only too well the feeling that it will never happen, and it seems downright impossible most times… And that gave me the idea of starting this new series for the blog – Wits GEMP Class of 2022 Student Stories.

Our class is made up of students with such vastly different backgrounds and ages, and it really is inspiring to hear their stories! I know a lot of people who stumble across this blog are in some way on their own journeys of getting into medical school, and oftentimes it is a painfully long and lonely road… I hope these stories give you the hope and desire to continue with your journey, and will show you that your dreams are within your reach, so NEVER GIVE UP!