SA’s youngest female medical doctor is struggling to find a job

South Africa’s youngest female medical doctor, Dr Thakgalo Thibela, 24, is one of the 800 unemployed doctors looking for work.

She became the nation’s youngest female medical doctor at 21 after graduating from Wits University with a Bachelor of Medicine and a Bachelor of Surgery.

ALSO READ: Puppy scams in South Africa: How to avoid being a victim

‘I AM WILLING TO SERVE ANYWHERE IN THE COUNTRY’

“I happen to find myself as part of the over 800 unemployed doctors in South Africa currently,” said Thibela.

“I am willing and ready to serve anywhere in the country, but that opportunity is not being afforded to me. I became a doctor because I wanted to help people, and not being able to do just that has been mentally taxing. Please help,” she pleaded.

ALSO READ: SASSA payment dates for February 2024

UPGRADED IN GRADE 7 TO HIGH SCHOOL

According to the Independent Online, she attended Farel Primary School in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga, where she was smart enough to skip Grade 7. Then she went to Lehlasedi High School, where she skipped Grade 9.

Thibela was upgraded from these grades because of her academic brilliance, and she finished her matric with seven distinctions at the age of 15.

UNEMPLOYED DOCTORS CALL TO GOVERNMENT FOR HELP

She finished her internship at Helen Joseph Hospital and her community service at Mapulaneng Hospital and plans to become a neurosurgeon.

Unemployed doctors have been calling on the government to find money to accommodate all post-community service doctors willing to work in government. “We are calling for the employment of all doctors and allied healthcare workers who are available to help our Public Health Sector,” says Dr Siyaneliswa Shozi, who is the spokesperson for unemployed doctors.

ALSO READ: What is the DA’s stance on CapeXit?