Zeenad Thomas stuurde ons een hartverwarmende email van haar werkzaamheden tijdens de Corona crisis in Zuid-Afrika

Good day Mr Schurer

I trust you and your loved ones are keeping well and taking care of yourselves in these trying times we find ourselves in. It has been a challenging year to say the least. I hope you were able to cope with all the difficulties this year has brought to many of our lives.

I thought I’d share a brief update of my fifth year as I’m sure you would like to know what we, your HSMF recipients, are up to on the clinical platform. I have to add that all the uncertainty around completing our clinical rotations before final year next year definitely added to a constant whirlwind of anxiety amongst myself and my classmates. The faculty has therefore put their heads together to formulate an entirely new module called the IDEAL rotation to compensate for our lost clinical time, which added up to 6 months. It stands for Integrated Distributed Engagement to Advance Learning (IDEAL). Since the occupancy of Tygerberg Hospital was primarily 6th years, it was not possible to host another class of students, especially while the pandemic was still rife. We were therefore placed at peripheral or rural hospitals. I was placed at Helderberg Hospital, in the area of Somerset West.

The IDEAL rotation took place over a period of 3 months. At Helderberg Hospital, we rotated through different departments/specialities each week, with every alternate day at home. This method was implemented to allow doctors to cope with the high influx of patients, while at the same time offering optimal training to us junior doctors on the days we attended hospital. So essentially, we’d spend 3 days per week in hospital, each week being a different department/speciality. I found this challenging on my part because 3 days in a particular discipline is nowhere near to sufficient to learn anything of value. Despite this challenge, many of us pulled through and tried our best to make the most of our time in hospital.

Being in hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic truly turned out to be way better than I expected. I was fearful at first, but my passion for people and the clinical environment was what kept me going. I learnt how to adapt to wearing full PPE during shifts and I became attuned to following the COVID-19 safety protocols quite quickly. I managed to also offer my services in the covid wards, doing nasopharyngeal swabs as well as assisting doctors with intubating patients. I learnt a great deal in both covid and non-covid wards, and I especially developed and expanded my clinical procedural skills.

Aside from the global pandemic taking all the spotlight these days in hospitals and clinics, I have come to realise that there are many other patients out there who are suffering from far worse illnesses. If it’s not their physical illnesses, it’s things like poverty, hunger, drug abuse, gender based violence attacks and so many other problems our society is burdened with. As a medical professional, you get a front row seat into the harsh lives of public health users. Over the past 3 months, I have seen and treated so many abuse victims, restrained countless aggressive patients and treated so many community assault victims. We are literally in a pandemic within a pandemic. Despite the challenges we face, it still brings me the utmost joy to help others and to be granted the opportunity to be an advocate for change in my community. I hope that one day I will serve my community and have a positive impact on the lives of the people in my care.

I am beyond thrilled to be starting my final year next year. I will be starting on January the 4th 2021.It feels great to be nearing the end of my undergraduate journey and I am so excited for the road ahead! I have to sincerely thank the HSMF for granting me the opportunity to see my fifth year through, as well as for having faith in my capabilities. This year would not have been possible without the help and support of your foundation, and for that I am eternally grateful. I would love to stay in touch and let you know how my final year is going. I have been in touch with Mrs Linsday Meyer and I’ve requested to maintain the ties I have with HSMF and continue to be a bursary recipient for my 6th year as well.

On another note, since visiting my high school this year has become quite difficult due to the pandemic, I will make the effort to go some time in the new year. I will keep you updated on that. I’m looking quite forward to going back!

I’d like to conclude my email with a few pictures attached of myself, having a blast in hospital, as always!

Please take care and I wish you the best of health and happiness. Have a blessed festive season and a prosperous new year!

Warm blessings,

Zeenad