Why Did I Become A Doctor South Africa

This episode of Why Did I Become a Doctor South Africa is brought to you in partnership with MedicalBrief — South Africa's leading daily healthcare news service. Stay informed with trusted reporting, expert insights, and analysis that matters to healthcare professionals. Subscribe free at https://bit.ly/3Pei7o1 --- At 19, Luvaan Rooyan is the youngest guest we've ever had on the show, an...

This episode is brought to you in partnership with MedicalBrief. Stay informed with trusted reporting, expert insights, and analysis that matters to healthcare professionals. From breaking news to in-depth features, MedicalBrief keeps you up to date with everything happening in healthcare. Subscribe free at https://bit.ly/3Pei7o1. --- Dr Ninakhulu Ntsanwisi is a medical doctor and admitted attorne...

This episode is brought to you by Bedfordview Dental Care. https://bedfordviewdentalcare.co.za/ --- Dr Kiash Arjun is a 26-year-old dentist working in private practice in Pietermaritzburg — and a recording artist with original songs on radio, an EP, an album, and a history of gigging his way through dental school. He takes us from growing up in Verulam and receiving his first guitar as a seventh b...

Daniel Kapelus had never heard the word vaccinology before 2019. By 2020, he was rotating through real COVID-19 clinical trials as a master's student at Wits — thrown into one of the most consequential public health moments in living memory. In this conversation, Daniel breaks down how vaccines actually work, why the COVID vaccines were developed so quickly without cutting corners, what mRNA...

Dr Eric Louw has been a family physician in Standerton, Mpumalanga since 1990. While many of his peers emigrated, he stayed — and built something rare: a full-service GP practice that does obstetrics, surgery, gastroscopies, ultrasounds, and procedures most specialists would hesitate to attempt in a small-town setting. In this conversation, Dr Louw talks about growing up in the gold fields of Virg...

This episode is brought to you in partnership with MedicalBrief. Stay informed with trusted reporting, expert insights, and analysis that matters to healthcare professionals. From breaking news to in-depth features, MedicalBrief keeps you up to date with everything happening in healthcare. Subscribe free at https://bit.ly/3Pei7o1. --- Dr Reggie Reddy is a dentist with over 35 years in practice. He...

This episode is brought to you in partnership with MedicalBrief. Stay informed with trusted reporting, expert insights, and analysis that matters to healthcare professionals. From breaking news to in-depth features, MedicalBrief keeps you up to date with everything happening in healthcare. Subscribe free at https://bit.ly/3Pei7o1. --- Dr Farouk Satar is a dentist and practice owner of The Health H...

This episode is brought to you in partnership with MedicalBrief. Stay informed with trusted reporting, expert insights, and analysis that matters to healthcare professionals. From breaking news to in-depth features, MedicalBrief keeps you up to date with everything happening in healthcare. Subscribe free at https://bit.ly/3Pei7o1. --- As a boy in Tlhabane, Rustenburg, all Dr Odirile Moloi wanted w...

Sejal Pramlall is a South African oceanographer and PhD candidate at the University of Bergen, Norway. She uses satellites to study the water quality and productivity of the world's oceans — work that sits at the intersection of marine science, climate change, and space technology. In this episode, Sejal takes us through a journey that is anything but conventional: from growing up in Johannes...

This episode is brought to you in partnership with MedicalBrief. Stay informed with trusted reporting, expert insights, and analysis that matters to healthcare professionals. From breaking news to in-depth features, MedicalBrief keeps you up to date with everything happening in healthcare. Subscribe free at https://bit.ly/3Pei7o1. --- "I became a doctor. I landed up becoming a scientist — bec...

Dr Yaseen Bismilla is one of South Africa's few specialist forensic pathologists - and a TikTok sensation with over 209,000 followers. In this conversation, we explore his journey from a small church town in the North West to becoming the voice for victims who can no longer speak for themselves. Yaseen takes us through his unexpected path into forensic pathology, starting with a placement at...

In this extraordinary episode, we sit down with the Honourable Minister of Health, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, for an intimate conversation about his journey from rural Limpopo to leading South Africa's health system. Minister Motsoaledi shares stories many have never heard before - from experiencing apartheid's racial hierarchies as a young medical student in KZN, to treating wounded activists...

What drives someone to leave medicine for law, only to return to medicine years later? In this episode, we sit down with Dr Tsametse Mohlamonyane, a medical doctor who became a fully practising lawyer before returning to clinical medicine. His story challenges everything we think we know about career paths in healthcare. Dr Mohlamonyane takes us from his childhood in rural Limpopo during the 1986...

In this episode, we sit down with Dr Ridhwaan Haffajee, a Cape Town-based prosthodontist who shares his journey from general dentistry to specialisation, the realities of running a private dental practice, and what it truly means to "choose your hard" in healthcare. Dr Haffajee explains what prosthodontists actually do—specialist dentists who handle advanced dental rehabilitation and max...

As 2025 closes, Dr Yak and Dr Yash reflect on their first full calendar year of the podcast. This candid conversation covers the real story behind the show's launch, mental health challenges in healthcare, unexpected growth, and the community that's formed around honest career conversations. Two cousins who happen to be doctors, sharing gratitude for a year of authentic storytelling with...

What do a Ferrari and flowers have in common? They both changed Dr Faizel Mansoor's life in ways he never expected. In this conversation, Faizel - Vice Chair of the South African Dental Association, the person who brought Myobrace to South Africa, and founder of the TMJ Centre and Fresher Breath - shares the unfiltered truth about his 20-year journey in dentistry. From wanting to drive a Ferr...

This conversation started with a 270 Rand LinkedIn Premium subscription. Dr Yash Naidoo spotted Dr Ryan Noach one morning, realised who he was, and decided to slide into his DMs despite having zero connections. That small risk led to this remarkable conversation. Dr Noach is the ex-CEO of Discovery Health, ex-COO of Netcare Group, helicopter pilot, and current CEO of DNI. But what makes this inter...

Dr Ebrahim "Ebi" Patel is a dentist with a special interest in endodontics, former Head of Preclinical Teaching at Wits University, and Clinical Director at Thinc Clinic. In this conversation, he shares his unconventional journey into dentistry, his passion for root canal treatment, and why he believes it's never too late to change your career. In this episode, we discuss: Why he sw...

Dr. Riaad Moosa hasn't practised medicine since 2003 - but he's still "Doctor" (in inverted commas) to millions of South Africans who grew up watching Material and the Pure Monate Show. In this revealing conversation, the legendary comedian opens up about the melancholic introvert behind the microphone, why comedy is "temporary relief for pain," and the night he bombe...

Dr. Norman Cahi has been called the "dentist to the stars" - but his 45-year journey in dentistry tells a much deeper story than the glamorous Instagram posts suggest. From practising without gloves in the 1980s to pioneering teeth whitening in South Africa, Dr. Cahi shares the brutally honest truth about life as a dentist - including the parts nobody talks about. WHAT WE DISCUSS IN THIS...

Dr. Navin Naidoo is a medical doctor, qualified lawyer, and medicinal cannabis prescriber practising in Australia. His journey spans three countries, multiple careers, and a relentless pursuit of patient advocacy. In this episode, Dr. Naidoo shares: His childhood in apartheid-era Laudium, Pretoria, and losing vision in one eye at age 13 Why he pursued both medical and law degrees whilst running a...

This is a conversation I never expected to have such emotional weight. Dr. Alasdair McKelvie has been the voice of reason for thousands of South African dentists facing their most difficult professional moments. As Head of Dental Services, South Africa at Dental Protection, he's the person practitioners call when everything goes wrong. But Alasdair's journey to this role was far from pla...

Dr Lerumo Motla's path from rural Limpopo to becoming a specialist trauma surgeon is a story of resilience, unexpected turns, and the healing power of medicine. In this medical career interview, we explore surgical training, trauma surgery, and healthcare in South Africa. After losing his mother at age 7, Lerumo was raised by his aunt and grandmother while his father operated taxis. A high sc...

Dr Mary Dawjee, daughter of the legendary Prof Dawjee, shares her transformative journey from repeatedly quitting dental school to pioneering holistic dentistry in Cape Town. In this candid conversation, she reveals how a life-threatening burnout led to profound personal growth and a revolutionary approach to patient care. This episode explores themes of family legacy, professional burnout, diabet...

Dr Warren King's story defies every career convention. From growing up on a Brixton council estate to becoming a doctor at King's College London, to abandoning medicine entirely for music production in South Africa - this is a conversation you won't forget. Warren's journey began as a teenage musician touring with major artists like Sugababes and Destiny's Child. But when...