Health Science Reviews

by Masilo Matlakala

As an intercalated honours/MBCHB student, I had a lot of doubt coming into the year. Some of this doubt came from the fact that I was adding one more year to my tertiary education and moving into a completely new career path besides the one I intended to follow when I came to UCT. I was not worried about the academic side of things but the potential impact of this decision on the relationships I had made and nurtured during the 3 years I spent at UCT. The thought of spending less and less time with my friends who have become family and never being able to fully relate to each other’s struggles like before was constantly in my head. Luckily, my other friends also decided to follow the same path as me which made it easier for me to transition from MBCHB and seeing patients into research. We attended the
same classes, supported one another and made this decision worth it. As time passed I eased into research and actually discovered that I am passionate about it more than I had previously thought particularly because it is centered around problem-solving and critical thinking which I love. I also loved learning about the basic sciences component of my
honours problem which made me realize that there is actually more to the nervous system than what was taught in MBCHB. I have always been interested in knowing and understanding topics fully and in detail and my honours programmed provided that. Also interesting was the exposure to science communication activities and presentations. These enhanced my ability to communicate complex topics in a clear and easily digestible manner
and enhanced my public speaking skills.

In addition to loving the basic science component of my honours programme, I enjoyed conducting experiments I have never done before, engaging with new protocols and reading up a lot about what I was doing. Not only did this improve my current understanding of the topic I was researching but also inspired me to conduct even more thorough research and to always have my mind open to modifying my research questions and focusing on new leads. One thing I did not expect, however, was failing multiple times while conducting an experiment, having to repeat the same experiments and modifying my protocol numerous times before it was successful. This experience made me more resilient and dedicated to my work and made this journey even worth pursuing. It was really for character development! Now I can say with certainty that I am more mentally resilient compared to when I came into this honours. At that time I was a little worried about pulling the experiments off but I learned to understand that things get harder before they get easier, and that it is really a matter of time before things work out. I came into honours, learned and never leaving research! I do not see myself practicing medicine without research and vice versa. I found my second passion this year and the decision to pursue an honours degree was worth it. I am glad I made it.