There could not be a perfect way to launch Women’s Month than with a young woman, who at 21 is South Africa’s youngest practising medical doctor. Dr. Thakgalo Thibela works at Helen Joseph Hospital in Johannesburg.
If you go to Helen Joseph Hospital in Johannesburg one day and you are referred to a fresh-faced young woman with a stethoscope and in medical garb, don’t think that an intern, a mere greenhorn from medical school, has been assigned to experiment on you, dice with your precious health. Instead, be rest assured that you are in the safe and capable hands of Dr. Thakgalo Thibela, South Africa’s youngest medical doctor at 21, ready to serve you under the Hippocritian Oath.
Fortunately, Dr. Thibela is judged by her excellent work ethic, and continuously earns plaudits from patients. “When I treat the patients, who come to the hospital, they always ask me about my age and are full of compliments when I tell them,” she says.
In fact, Dr. Thibela has not let the thought of her young age being a barrier to accessing opportunity bother her the least bit. “In high school, I was always the youngest in my class, so by the time Wits came around, I was used to it. I never really felt the age gap because I matured early in life,” Dr Thibela says, explaining that no-one at university stigmatised her due to age.
For Dr. Thibela, first years of work could not have been daunting than being on the frontlines of the health sector’s initiative to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, during the resurgence of infections in January this year. However, it is a task she readily relishes, appreciating that is what being a medical doctor involves. Just like all health workers, she is always mindful of her personal safety when treating patients.
“When you are in the emergency department, you must get to the next patient quickly, but in treating patients in the time of COVID-19, I have learnt that you have to protect yourself first by wearing personal protective equipment.
“It is only when I am protected that I am able to help other people. When I consult a patient, especially one who has tested positive for COVID-19, I must wear gloves, mask, a face shield and gown,” Dr. Thibela emphasises.
Dr. Thibela, who hails from Violet Bank village in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga, is one extremely gifted woman.
Young Thibela skipped Grade Seven in Primary School. She would be promoted to Grade 10 High School without having to do Grade Nine. She matriculated at the age of 15, in 2015, with seven distinctions. Six years later, she earned her Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery from the University of Witwatersrand.
For Dr. Thibela, first year of work experience could not have been daunting than being on the frontlines of the health sector’s initiative to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, during the resurgence of infections in January this year. However, it is a task she readily relishes, appreciating that is what being a medical doctor involves. Just like all health workers, she is always mindful of her personal safety when treating patients.
“When you are in the emergency department, you must get to the next patient quickly, but in treating patients in the time of COVID-19, I have learnt that you have to protect yourself first by wearing personal protective equipment.
“It is only when I am protected that I am able to help other people. When I consult a patient, especially one who has tested positive for COVID-19, I must wear gloves, mask, a face shield and gown,” Dr. Thibela emphasises, affirming her commitment to serving South Africans.
It has been an illustrious journey from humble beginnings to fulfilling a dream.
Dr. Thibela knew that she wanted to be a medical doctor the first day she stepped in the Grade one. Every time a teacher would ask her what she wanted to be she would response without stuttering as peers did: “A doctor!”
Interestingly, had Dr. Thibela not followed her gut feeling, she could have become a nuclear scientist by default. Her older sister had told her to select nuclear science as a second option of study at Wits. However, her mind was set on registering for nuclear science, when she got a call informing of her acceptance for admission at the medical school.
The rest is history, as the chestnut goes.
For the record, Dr. Thibela is not the youngest medical doctor in South Africa’s history. Sandile Kubheka, who made South African history in 2014 by qualifying as the youngest doctor ever at the age of 20.
Credits: This article was originally published in the GCIS Vuk’uzenzele and has been adapted for TSA Online
.