UKZN’s top medical student, Dr Maseeha Ismael Bhorat. | Supplied
Durban — University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) class of 2023 top medical student, Dr Maseeha Ismael Bhorat attributes her success to the thousand-thread-count support system she has with family and friends.
Bhorat matriculated at Crawford College, La Lucia in 2017. She is regarded as an 87% aggregate achiever and is currently a medical intern at Groote Schuur Hospital.
Bhorat said she had the privilege of being taught by some “incredible” senior doctors throughout her six years at medical school, who pushed her to give her best – “and that’s all I ever wanted to do”, she said.
Bhorat said: “One thing that you learn very quickly about the MBChB degree is that it is not for the fainthearted. The six-week cycle of long days, high volumes of material to study and expectations placed on a student in their early20s can become very overwhelming, very quickly.”
The greatest tool in her arsenal in terms of study strategies, she said, was to read a little bit every day so that she would have a greater foundation to build on once working at a hospital.
“What truly kept me afloat was the support of my family. I am in a fortunate (and unique) position where all of my siblings and parents are already in the medical field. Not only did this help me when I could not understand pathology, but it provided me with proof that this degree is surmountable – if you take it one step at a time, day by day.“
Bhorat said her fondest memory of medical school was the friends that she made along the way. Bhorat said she always wanted to be a doctor, which might have been, in part, due to the subliminal messaging of her father and four older siblings.
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