In 1967, South Africa became famous for something positive, unrelated to the turmoil of its politics. The world experienced the first human heart transplant successfully done in Cape Town by Dr Christiaan Barnard. Two years later, I was born. I grew up, along with many others, subconsciously having an inherent sense of knowing that apparent insurmountable goals are accessible, given enough passion, knowledge and drive. As South Africans, we have Dr Barnard in part to thank for this ideology. Now, half a century later, I am experiencing my own firsts pursuing a lifelong dream of medicine and seeing how allopathic and alternative can live in harmony.
I've had a full life with two very different careers running parallel before pursuing my MD. Firstly, I am a Creative Director, having worked on exceptional projects over the span of 25 years. Starting at Hunt Lascaris, voted international ad agency at the time, where I worked on the Nelson Mandela-ANC election campaign, through to running my own project-based agency, The Chilli Factor. Here I collaborated with extra-ordinary clients and orchestrated diverse strategies in film, tv, animation, design and advertising. I have been called upon in the past to manage difficult projects, always enjoying the challenge of troubleshooting until a symbiotic solution is reached. Medicine appears to be no different, and enjoy applying my past experience of project managing and diverse communication skills within this field. Secondly, I am a Kinesiologist, specializing in Neural Training and Neural Organization Technique. This form of kinesiology is very similar to the field of osteopathic medicine in the USA. Although the name implies movement, Kinesiology has a far broader, behavioral and emotional component to it. I ran a part-time concern for many years before officially opening up my full-time practice from 2009, until I left to study for my MD degree late 2015.
I had the privilege of working and travelling with Joost van der Westhuizen, the remarkable rugby player, and had the exceptional opportunity of meeting the Edinburgh research teams working on advancing treatments and cures for neural diseases. Medicine and the sciences have always fascinated me, especially when looking at the individual patient as a whole and seeing what works best for them. Investigating challenges in an intellectual capacity, and applying critical thinking gives an added dimension. I enjoy, and find it incredibly rewarding working with people (patients and fellow team clinicians), assisting in aligning patients to their individual needs.
Since 2000, I have worked closely as a Cotlands volunteer, a South African community driven orphanage and Child Care Centre. In my early years with the institution, we experienced more of a Hospice care unit approach, watching our children die due to the devastating AIDS epidemic. However, with the introduction of ARVs, and the difference medication has made, they are now thriving. Alongside general volunteering, I have helped raise three boys, and assisted with HIV adult lifestyle choices. Both the merging of HIV science/therapy and witnessing real life outcomes with my boys, has heightened my interest in this field.
Engaging with physicians has been a humbling venture as I endeavor to pursue a life that can contribute to the wellbeing of patients globally. There is a need for a better understanding and management of the modern-day conundrum of comorbidities. I think the solution lies in the individual. It is my dream to bring the allopathic and alternative insights to individuals allowing each person to make their own decisions on how to do life better.
