Health Science Reviews

By Dakalo Ratshivhombela

My entry ticket into honours came from the intercalated program, an opportunity I hold with boundless gratitude and humility. I could have never predicted I would venture into this part of my medical school journey, and neither was I ever certain of it when I did. Every directive to pursue the next steps closer to the door of an honours in Neuroscience and Physiology was nothing short of a leap of faith fuelled by hunger to discover and be part of something unusual. One of the first discoveries I made was how much of the fear of missing out, “FOMO”, I would be exposed to having left the MBChB mainstream class which has dived into the exciting world of the clinical platform. I have been severely tempted to believe that the honours year is a break from life hence a setback in my career. This has warranted a daily devotion to remember that I am part of something bigger, both in my life and in the science arena.

The scientific arena has proven to be a rewarding flame in which one’s character is tested. The course content presented in the program has stimulated innovation, critical thinking, and deeper application of scientific interventions to solve real-world problems. Lecturers and supervisors, though being helpful when reached out to have been exactly that, helpful when reached out to. Unlike in undergraduate studies, 24-hour notices to remind one of an upcoming submission do not exist in postgraduate studies. These learned men and women maintain the silence of the grave until otherwise bothered. This coupled with the bucket load of self-directed learning has opened doors to procrastination that I have been fighting to keep closed. These factors have proven my inherent and acquired diligence ineffective in combatting procrastination that comes secondary to the illusion of the abundance of time. I have been relying on mini deadlines, keeping in touch with the class’s WhatsApp groups, and attendance at class and labs to ensure some level of accountability and drive to complete tasks. The struggles I faced engaging laboratory experiments, tests, and scientific reports in the first semester have been reflected in the grades I earned which have brought me to nothing but cringing. My response to these setbacks has been embracing my failures and exercising the privilege of asking lecturers and laboratory assistants and these have helped me identify my mistakes and maximise learning.

Further down the sharp end of the blade has been entering the uncomfortably unfamiliar territory of Magnetic Resonance Image (MRI) analysis. My project has bombarded me with content that I always imagined should be reserved for Bioinformatics students, the image analysis of brain scans using a coding environment like Buddha in PuTTY. I have been as challenged by the endeavour as I have enjoyed the acquisition of the new skill. Conducting secondary data analysis research on structural MRI data for the Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) field of study has been different from my previous exposure to FASD in medical school. The processes involved have been confronting peculiar aspects that transcend the clinical presentation and diagnosis, including image preprocessing procedures. This new world of computers is only compatible with my distant 3rd nature and has required intentional learning and reaching out for me to effectively grapple with.

I have found my journey in honours interestingly ironic as I have always struggled with scientific experiments and reports in high school and computer science/information technology has always been miles outside my comfort zone. Now the honours year is a different ball game to undergraduate studies, there is an abundance of time on my hands, much discipline is required of me, and my intellectual capacity has been expanding beyond what I could have predicted. The account of my experience sounds daunting and worth avoiding, but it is an adventure for which I have buckled up and to savour each mile of the journey.