“I decided to become a medical doctor after my mother was diagnosed with chronic conditions,” said the newly qualified medical doctor, Dr Tshepiso Maila, who obtained her Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degree from the University of Pretoria (UP) during the Autumn Graduation season.

“I wanted to be able to help her and other elderly people suffering from these conditions.”

After completing her Bachelor of Nursing Science and Art at the University of Limpopo, the 31-year-old doctor, who hails from Mmakgatle village in Limpopo, wanted to pursue medicine at UP. She recalls being told that not everyone gets accepted to study at UP.

“I took it as an opportunity to prove to those people that in life you can get anything you want, as long as you believe in yourself and put your mind to it and I was indeed accepted. Today I am a proud UP alumnus.”

Out of her ten siblings, Dr Maila is the only one who managed to further her studies at a university and is set to be the first female doctor from her village.

“What kept me going is that I knew everyone in my family was looking out for me, they always believed that I will be a doctor one day and that’d able to help them achieve their dreams as well,” says Dr Maila.

“My big brother, Mesh Maila, paid for my registration fee for my first degree and I will forever be grateful for that.”

She believes that her nursing degree was a great platform of what lay ahead, she believes that it grounded and shaped the person she is today. “I was able to cope and do most of the things required during my medical practicals. I was aware of what will be required of me as a doctor, I was prepared and ready because I knew what to expect.”

Dr Maila admits that transitioning from nursing to medicine was not smoothing sailing.

“The first year of medicine was extremely challenging, especially the first semester. I had not been doing chemistry for some time, I had to find a tutor for extra lessons and I got it right eventually. Academic wise, I found my feet during my second semester.”

Her biggest joy came on 5 December 2022 when she took the Hippocratic Oath – that was when she realised that her dream of becoming a doctor was now a reality. The cherry on top was that her parents, whom she was doing this for, were there to experience and celebrate the moment with her.

Dr Maila says she is ready for the outside world and that UP has given her exposure to different working environments that she may encounter along her profession journey.

“UP has given me the tools for what I have signed up for as a doctor, and how to excel in my workplace. Every single thing that we did was and is worth knowing as it assists me to always be on my toes and be fully engaged in helping my patients.”

The newly qualified doctor says this is not her last graduation at UP. She is set on returning to further her studies and become the specialist physician that she always wanted to be.