POLOKWANE – Dr Mbilaelo Tshamiswe is a specialist paediatrician who strives to improve child health and neurodevelopment services in Limpopo.
She works at the Pietersburg Provincial Hospital in the child health and neurodevelopment division of paediatrics.
Tshamiswe also founded the Urangani Neurodevelopment Inc, a private company that offers private clinical services under Urangani Neurodevelopment Clinic, Urangani Parenting Corner and educational services.
“At the Urangani clinic, we see children who are not developing in line with their milestone – in other words they don’t talk, walk or sit at the pace they are supposed to. We also see children with behavioural problems and those who are not doing well at school for various reasons. Urangani offers coaching services to parents who would like to help their children to reach their full potential,” she said.
Tshamiswe said she too, experienced health challenges when she was born.
At the time, these services could only be accessed at Ga-Rankuwa Hospital, now the Dr George Mukhari Hospital in Gauteng. It was during this time that she knew she wanted to become a medical doctor.
When she was working at Tshilidzini Hospital, she learned about specialist work and it was through Dr Ntodeni Ndwamato, a specialist family physician that she got her inspiration.
“In 2013, I met a colleague who became a friend, Dr Tshimangadzo Makhwanya who was passionate about paediatrics, and she inspired me to love the discipline. It was in 2014 when we both had an opportunity to train to be specialist paediatricians,” she said.
Tshamiswe has been blessed to be surrounded by great women in the medical fraternity and during her training at Pietersburg Hospital, she had the opportunity to work closely with Dr Anne Robertson-Sutton in child health and neurodevelopment.
“Dr Robertson is one of the pioneers of paediatric services in Limpopo, and she is passionate about neurodevelopment. Her compassion towards families and children with neurodevelopment challenges inspired me to persuade a career in the field,” she said.
Tshamiswe recently discovered her passion for teaching too and will continue to teach and supervise postgraduate students at the University of Limpopo’s Medical School.
“Imparting knowledge and skills is fulfilling. I find pleasure in mentoring others,” she said.
She would like to leave a legacy, with more schools that cater for children with autism and other special needs as they are denied access to education by virtue of limited resources.
“I believe with advocacy from all stakeholders we can establish schools for children with special needs and reinforce inclusive education to those who can cope in mainstream schools. It would also be great to have rehabilitation centres in all districts of the province to render state-of-the-art neurodevelopment services in the province.”
