18 May 2023 Volume :11 Issue :25

Journeying into Research - The Medical Registrar Mentorship Programme

Professor Refiloe Masekela (left) and Mr Nicolas Hellens inspired medical registrars.

An initiative of the Dean of the School of Clinical Medicine, Professor Ncoza Dlova, the Medical Registrar Programme is a training programme to support and mentor medical doctors specialising in various fields.

Now in its third year, this quarter’s presentation was on Journeying into Research and Understanding the South African Economic Climate.

Dlova and Dr Kimesh Naidoo, academic leader for medical registrars, welcomed the 2023 cohort and encouraged participants who joined the presentation from hospitals all over the province to provide regular feedback on topics of interest. ‘We have an open-door policy in the School of Clinical Medicine and welcome discussions on issues you are grappling with in hospitals. Furthermore, we strongly advocate for a climate where there’s no academic bullying and as such all issues must be reported to me,’ said Dlova. She and Naidoo provided their personal mobile numbers to the registrars for further engagement.

Keynote speaker, Head of Paediatrics and Child Health, Professor Refiloe Masekela presented on her journey in research. The medical registrars had requested that Masekela address them due to the fact that her Department has had an excellent throughput rate and was voted as the Best Department at the Medical School since she took up the position.

Masekela is a nationally and internationally recognised expert in her field, having held various leadership positions in local and international thoracic societies. Her scientific research career has focused on lung diseases in children. She is the Vice-Chairperson of the Pan-African Thoracic Society (PATS), where part of her mission is to highlight issues around lung health in Africa and to guide policy in various countries on the continent. Masekela is the current Director of the American Thoracic Society (ATS) MECOR Africa Program, a research methodology programme run by the PATS. It provides training on operational and clinical lung research for trainees from all over Africa and has trained more than 450 trainees from over 20 countries. She is also a group member of the ATS Pediatric Global Health Group. Through PATS MECOR, she developed the African Women in Research Mentorship Programme.

As a young girl, Masekela knew she wanted to become a doctor. She always had a scientific mind but initially viewed research as a “black box”. She said, ‘We always think of very intelligent people like Albert Einstein and Marie Curie when we think about pursuing research. However, being a researcher is not about aiming to win the Nobel prize. Research informs science that informs what we do on a daily basis. It’s about pursuing a topic you are passionate about that will help you to make a difference in people’s lives. We all became doctors for this very reason.’

Masekela initially decided to pursue a doctoral degree as at the time, there were only three paediatric pulmonologists in the country with PhDs. Finalising a research topic was a challenge, but by attending and networking with other PhD students at a PATS research methodology course, she developed an interest in lung health. Her message to the attendees was to always network and collaborate with other people. ‘People come with different skill sets which will assist to shape your research and enrich your knowledge. Become part of the global society by networking and collaborating.’

Her other message was to always say yes as a junior researcher: ‘Present your abstracts at conferences. Write manuscripts. Make use of all grant opportunities and most importantly take up all opportunities to showcase your research.’ Finally, Masekela encouraged the audience to “Just Do It”. ‘Research is the most powerful method for you to change the world. The Coronavirus showed us this. So just do it and remember that research is a wonderful journey but always have fun and strike a balance between your personal life and work.’

In his presentation, Naidoo observed that the most demotivating part of the research journey is receiving negative criticism or even worse having a paper rejected. Masekela’s advice was to always remember it is part of the game: ‘Don’t take it personally. Take some time out to introspect. Don’t allow the feedback to destroy your soul. All the reviews and rejections are there to make your work better, so keep striving forward.’

The medical registrars also had the opportunity to learn about South Africa’s and the global economic environment during a presentation by Mr Nicolas Hellens from Investec’s Wealth and Investment division. Investec is the largest manager of private client wealth in South Africa and one of the largest managers of wealth in the United Kingdom. He noted that financial management advice is essential to ensure medical registrars’ financial security. Hellen’s forecast for the economy was that it will likely improve once the Federal Reserves start cutting interest rates, which should start weakening the Dollar and strengthening the Rand.

Words: MaryAnn Francis

Photograph: Supplied

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