Health Science Reviews

By Sima Bongo

Let us conduct a review of the journey of a young scientist to understand what makes a scientist.

Background:

In a perfect Disney movie, the story starts in a faraway land filled lots of joy and laughter and overall peace then suddenly something terrible happens, and the main character has to do everything in their power to solve the situation, usually involving lots of friends, enemies-turned allies and tons of lessons to be learnt along the way and of course – a happily ever after…let’s see if we can match that.

Well this review begins in 2022, as the world slowly returned to some form of normal living following the pandemic. Our young scientist was in his 2^nd Year of Medical School trying by all means to make it through the year. It was a year like no other to him, he faced many challenges and at times even wondered if he would find a breakthrough. Then one day, a friend suggests that he apply for the Intercalated MBChB/BMedSci track – a program that allows medical students to get trained as scientists – a downside as he saw it back then – he had to add an extra year to the already intimidating 6 years to be a medical doctor – his response to the friend; “You’re crazy!!”. After much convincing, our young scientist decided to apply and await rejection.

Fast forward to 2023, he got accepted, and a new world had suddenly opened up to him offering new possibilities. He finished his 3^rd Year, and to his surprise was accepted for an Honors’ degree in Neuroscience, What!!?

Now:

Our young scientist now embarks on his journey into the world of research; like any new journey, it’s a mosaic of different emotions; anxiety, fear, excitement but most of all gratitude. He met amazing people in this journey, like-minded individuals who were so eager to learn the science and make meaningful scientific breakthroughs. He was part of an amazing cohort and classmates quickly turned into friends making the experience a whole lot more fulfilling. A lot had to be learnt, from how to critically dissect scientific papers, to learning how to communicate science, collaborate with others, be supervised, handling stress and the unknowns that come with doing research. Initially, these invited feelings of inadequacy, and fear but he learnt to work with those feelings and develop healthy ways of approaching them. From long walks back to res with friends, complaining most of the time – to studying with friends who were also going through similar hurdles – supervisors who reached out and offered valuable advice and support – and of course playing foosball – provided a community of support and eased these emotions. So, its not only the science that had to be learnt, but how to grow, holistically as an individual, develop your way of thinking – to navigating relationships all the while taking care of your own wellbeing – as a friend called it – a “Balancing Act”.

Conclusion:

What this year has taught the young scientist is that, sometimes it’s important to relinquish control to actually enjoy the journey, many of the things and hurdles we face are not under our control – but that doesn’t make us powerless – contrary, it gives us the power to focus on things we can control. And you can not do it alone, if not for the crazy friend from 2 years ago, the young scientist wouldn’t have met such an incredible group of people, learn science from people who are leaders in their fields and also contribute something to science.

Well I guess that wasn’t too far off from the Disney movie, but I’m sure the young scientist would have cured cancer and solved world hunger in the movie – well who knows – the story is still unfolding.