The Dr Coffee Podcast

In today’s episode, I sat down with Stefan Bothma and Werner Hattingh, the founders of Money & Medicine, financial advisors who specialise in assisting final year medical students and young health professionals to plan their financial future and lay a foundation early on to achieve their financial goals. We’re discussing common mistakes that newly-qualified interns, and even other ranks of doc...

Ultrasound imaging has the potential to change the landscape of access to care in South Africa. It's relatively cheap, non-irradiating, offers imaging in real-time, and can be used in a variety of settings, including the emergency department. Having spent the past month in the ED at my base hospital, I asked one of the EM registrars who is also an instructor in point-of-care ultrasound with th...

What is it about the competitive nature of medical school, academic research, and vying for ever-dwindling numbers of posts that make junior doctors so unkind to one another? We're all on a journey of personal and professional development, and in this Espresso Shots episode we're talking about respecting our colleagues qualifications, intelligence and humanity - in other words: Just be &#3...

In this episode, we welcome two incredible guests: Dr Nokukhanya Khanyile-Lenake & Mr Romulen Pillay, to discuss the priorities and perspectives of South African healthcare leaders and healthcare professionals, as revealed in the Future Health Index. You can download the Philips Future Health Index Report 2023 for South Africa at the URL: ⁠https://bit.ly/FHISA23 About our guests: Dr. Nokukhany...

This week we lift the lid on practising medicine and specialising in another country, specifically, the United States of America. Our guest this week shares from her journey of getting a job in residency in the US, how their healthcare system and medical training works, and what YOU need to know if you're considering practicing medicine in the USA. About our guest: Dr Kim Scott completed her u...

Dr Nox Mpambukeli & I were privileged to be invited to attend the Philips Future of Health LIVE South Africa event in Johannesburg on the 23rd of August 2023. We got the opportunity to interact with some incredible industry experts and leaders, some of whom were the panelists in the LinkedIn LIVE discussion . They had some phenomenal things to say to junior doctors and medical students in Sout...

In this episode, I had the privilege of interviewing Professor Shabir Moosa, to ask him all about the NHI and how it might feasibly work to fund quality healthcare in South Africa. Professor Moosa is a Family Physician in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits)). He has a Diploma in Primary Health Care Service Management, A Masters in Family Medicine (MEDUNS...

I was recently invited to participate in and facilitate the first Umsebeni Employment Series Conversation, organised by the Office of Student Success at the University of the Witwatersrand. For those who don’t know, the Office of Student Success was started by the Faculty of Health Sciences at WITS University to enable the holistic development, wellbeing and support of all health sciences students...

Welcome to the Dr Coffee Podcast, brought to you by IndemniMed! In this week’s coffee with consultants feature, I interview Dr Nick Brits, representing Urology. Dr Brits is originally from KwaZulu Natal, and completed his undergraduate degree at UCT in 2011. After internship in Pietermaritzburg he moved to Johannesburg and worked as a Medical Officer at Charlotte Maxeke and Chris Hani Baragwanath...

In this week’s episode, I interview Dr Chris Mathew. Chris is currently the Health Informatics Officer for the private hospital group, Netcare. In this role, he also serves as a the clinical lead for Africa’s largest EMR system, through which Netcare has established the first fully digitised hospitals in South Africa. Prior to joining Netcare, Chris trained as a medical doctor and then went on to...

Welcome to Espresso Shots by the Dr Coffee Podcast. Today we’re talking about organ donation, with Jonty Wright and Naamiz Nagdee from Save Seven. Save Seven Contacts Jonty Wright: 063 612 240; Jonty@Save7.org Naazim Nagdee: 076 607 1255; Naazim@Save7.org or Nagdeenaz16@gmail.com Sachen Naidu: 067 141 3427; Sachen@Save7.org Website: www.save7.org Instagram: @savesevenlives Facebook: Save 7 Tiktok:...

In this week’s "Coffee with Consultants" feature, I interviewed Dr Tracey Ferreira, representing the frequently requested specialty of Anaesthesiology. Dr Ferreira is a fairly recently-qualified anaesthesiologist currently working in private practice in a number of locations and with a variety of surgeons. She’s also a mom of two gorgeous small kids, and has great advice for our women in...

Let's talk about the National Health Insurance, or NHI, which was recently passed in parliament. As a young doctor or a medical student, you need to at least know the basic concepts of the why, what and how of the NHI, for your own career as well as so you can help your relatives and member of the public understand and make sense of their own feelings of the bill. So will the NHI work? What do...

In this week’s coffee with consultants feature, we hear from Dr Lliam Brannigan, representing the sub-specialty of critical care medicine and intensive care. Dr Brannigan is an intensive care specialist and HOD at the Wits Donald Gordon Medical Centre critical care department. He has a research and clinical interest in liver transplantation and high risk surgery, and especially failure to rescue,...

In this episode, we feature members of the Wits Students Surgical Society ("Wits SurgSoc"), and their efforts to fundraise for the Smile Foundation by climbing Mount Kilimanjaro - #KiliChallenge2023. I had the privilege of interviewing four members of the team aiming to summit Mt Kilimanjaro in December 2023. This interview took place at the Smile Foundation offices in Hyde park Johannes...

In this week's Coffee with Consultants feature, I sat down with Dr Jay Punwasi, about the role of a clinical manager at a hospital entails, and also to talk about the important steps junior doctors need to chart a course for the the early phase of their career and how to choose a site for their Community Service year. Dr Jay Punwasi is a medical doctor and healthcare manager. She is currently...

The 2nd of June 2023 is CrazySock4Docs day , a day to shine a light on the mental health of doctors. This is our chance to talk about it, break the stigma associated with mental illness, and to be there for one another. In this very special episode, I have the privilege and honour of interviewing my beautiful wife Carmen, who has been so brave and kind as to open up about her own struggles with an...

In this week's "Coffee with Consultants" feature, my guest is Professor Joji Mercier, an associate professor at the University of Pretoria. Prof Joji has experience as an emergency medicine doctor with international SOS - flying doctors involved in medical rescue and transportation across borders and overseas - as well as extensive experience as a lecturer of medical students and sci...

This special episode of the Dr Coffee Podcast, we feature a non-profit organisation doing amazing work in our community and country. It’s our pleasure to present this episode in collaboration with the Smile Foundation SA and Burnshield. The month of May has been marked as Burns Awareness Month by the National Burns Association of South Africa (NBASA), with a key focus on the week between the 6th a...

Welcome to this special episode of the Dr Coffee Podcast, produced in collaboration with the Wits Students’ Physician Society. In this episode, we're talking all about the Graduate Entry into Medicine Program (GEMP) at the University of the Witwatersrand (WITS) in Johannesburg, South Africa. A podcast in two parts, this episode was recorded at a live event which took place on the 26th of April...

Welcome (again) to this special episode of the Dr Coffee Podcast, produced in collaboration with the Wits Students’ Physician Society. In this episode, we're talking all about the Graduate Entry into Medicine Program (GEMP) at the University of the Witwatersrand (WITS) in Johannesburg, South Africa. A podcast in two parts, this episode was recorded at a live event which took place on the 26th...

Welcome to episode 32! This week we dive into the topic of locum work - freelancing as a medical professional in a practice that is not your own. This can be an extremely rewarding and profitable work option for junior doctors after internship and community service years, and has the added benefit of giving the medical professional a measure of autonomy and freedom, while you explore your interest...

Welcome to episode 31! In this week’s coffee with consultants feature, we break new ground by featuring our first interview with a consultant from the Western Cape! Thanks to the nomination of their intern curator by a number of the Groote Schuur interns, I had the immense privilege and honour of interviewing hepatologist Professor Mark Sonderup at the Liver Clinic at Groote Schuur Hospital.  Prof...

Welcome to episode 30! In this week’s coffee with consultants feature, I had the immense privilege and honour of interviewing Dr Efrat Barnes, a clinician at the Teddy Bear Clinic, an important part of the Teddy Bear Foundation’s work against child abuse in all its forms, as well as a neurodevelopmental specialist at the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital.  Dr Efrat is a fantastic hum...

BUYING A CAR - whether new off the showroom floor or secondhand - is one of the biggest financial commitments a young professional can make. For junior doctors especially, the opportunity to purchase a motor vehicle usually comes only after 6 years (or longer) of hard work as a student, and with a sudden increase in financial resources and funding models. Many banks and financial institutions are...