Thubelihle Thanjekwayo and Nokuthula Sehlale are back on home soil for a short break after studying medicine in Cuba in what is known as the South Africa-Cuba Medical Student Programme.
The two locals have spent five years abroad in the Latin country and are happy to be back home.
Thubelihle is an Ithafa Secondary School matriculant, while Nokuthula is a proud Lindile High School product.
The two applied for the programme and were chosen out of a thousand applicants with one of the selection criteria being that preference be given to students in rural municipalities in disadvantaged schools.
They are part of a contingent of students offered the opportunity to study in Cuba by the Mpumalanga Department of Health.
The programme is aimed at reducing the shortage of doctors in the province, addressing the backlog and opening doors for students from poor communities who would otherwise struggle to afford to study medicine.
The initiative forms part of a campaign to recruit new doctors into public health care in Mpumalanga and reverse a decade-long brain-drain from provincial hospitals.
The programme entails a first year of studying the country, the Spanish language and the way of life.
Thereafter they are theoretically and practically trained in medicine.
“It is good to be back home after such a long time. Cuba has been great and they are as passionate about medicine as I am,” said Thubelihle.
The students briefly relaxed at home, but are now shadowing doctors at the Ermelo Provincial Hospital until they have to go back to Cuba for another year.
“They will come back to South Africa to study another year before they can practise at government hospitals,” says Department of Health manager in the Human Resource Development Office at Gert Sibande District, Mr T.S. Gwebu.
The only commitment the province expects in return for the bursaries is that graduates pledge to work for public hospitals in their communities when they return.
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