Final-year Medical Student flies UKZN Flag High

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Final-year Medical student, Mr Sahil Maharaj, made two presentations on medical education at the world’s largest medical education conference, the Association of Medical Education in Europe (AMEE) in 2020. Maharaj was also selected to join the Student Task Force for the conference for the second time based on his involvement in medical education.

The opportunity included a fully funded trip to attend the conference in Glasgow, in the United Kingdom however, due to the global pandemic it was held virtually. He has again been selected to attend AMEE 2021 as a tutor and has two presentations at the conference.

His first presentation was titled “Grit and a Growth mindset: Strengths and opportunities identified by South African health science students during the COVID-19 pandemic”.

Maharaj was the first author, and worked with Dr Veena Singaram, UKZN’s Academic Leader for Research and a Stellenbosch Medical student. Data was collected by means of a SWOT analysis distributed to health sciences students in South Africa.

‘A total of 147 final-year Health Sciences students responded. We then identified common themes in the strengths and opportunities identified by South African health sciences students,’ declared Maharaj.

His second presentation was titled “Increasing involvement of students as medical education enthusiasts-perspectives of AMEE ESME Student Course graduates”.

‘I worked with three other Medical students from South Africa, Poland and Brazil. All four of us completed the Essential Skills in Medical Education Student course (ESME Student). We presented our engagement with medical education after completing the course,’ he said.

‘This is a five-module course designed to provide students with the skills necessary to increase their involvement in medical education,’ he continued.

The purpose of the presentation was to showcase their involvement in medical education post completion of the course. ‘In the presentation, I speak about my involvement in the AMEE 2021 as a tutor and my involvement in research. I also make mention of a set of books developed with another student at UKZN, designed to facilitate the history taking process for medical students across the different medical specialties,’ detailed Maharaj.

Maharaj has also published a COVID-19 experience article in the International Journal of Medical Students.

He has been involved in various leadership positions. He has just completed his term as a South African representative on the Golden Key International Council of Student Leaders. Maharaj has been a member of Golden Key since 2017 and has since served as president for the Medical School chapter in 2019.

Maharaj is also involved in various volunteer programmes. In January 2020, he was part of the medical team for the MiWay 226 triathlon event at Midmar. He joined the RamaKrishna Medical Mission in February to provide healthcare to the indigent community in Etete. In March he donated and served food at the Aryan Benevolent Home in Chatsworth. The spirit of Ubuntu is one of his core beliefs.

Going forward, Maharaj intends to pursue a specialty in internal medicine. He hopes to contribute to impactful research as well as help develop young medical researchers. He also aims to boost the involvement of students in medical education. His aim is to make a meaningful contribution to society.

In his matric year, Maharaj was placed fifth in KZN for the final examinations. He was awarded the prestigious Pius Langa scholarship. He has served on the executive committees of the South African Medical Students Association and UKZN Student Surgical Society. Maharaj is also actively involved with medical research, and has published in the International Journal of Medical Students. His research interests include HIV, TB, telemedicine and medical education. He recently participated with a multinational team in the global Beyond Health Hack competition to address vaccine uptake worldwide, hosted by Sanoffi and the University of Singapore.

Words: Nombuso Dlamini

Photograph: Supplied