Dr. Bookholane, thank you so much for your time and willingness to share your valuable information and insights with our readers. At the beginning of September you launched your book Becoming a Doctor with Exclusive Books, which went along with a very insightful webinar hosted by Karyn Maughan. I highly recommend that our readers give this a listen. Since you’ve spent time discussing your book on platforms that are publicly available, I’m excited to steer our conversation today more in the direction of your travels and the steps you took to get to Johns Hopkins.
Q) After six months of internship at Groote Schuur in 2019, you left for the United States in order to complete a Master of Public Health program at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Can you briefly explain your motivation behind this endeavour and how you came to learn about it?
A) I applied for the Fulbright Scholarship which is the U.S. Government’s flagship international education exchange program designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and other countries. This took place at what I considered the initial rising arc of my career trajectory; at a point where I was increasingly curious but with enough self-awareness to know that I didn’t know everything. I was fuelled then with a zeal to experiment, learn and grow. Through my background in clinical medicine, as both student and doctor, and in clinical research, it was impressed upon me that clinical practice alone is not enough; neither is an exclusive focus on research findings. It is both practice and research that must relate to our collective effort in solving the complex (public) health problems that we are faced with. This, together with an urge for a deeper understanding of the factors which influence people’s health –be it social, economic, or psychological– formed the impetus behind my pursuit of a Master of Public Health (MPH) at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Q) In 2019 you received a Fulbright Scholarship to complete the above-mentioned program. Can you please take us through the process such as application, interviews, and other requirements, and what you believe distinguished you from other applicants across the world?
A) It is a 14–16-month process. The application materials include a personal statement and master’s project proposal. The personal statement is truly the place where you need to show, not tell, your motivation, ambition and suitability for the graduate degree and the scholarship. In doing this, it was the first time I’d had to really reflect on the why of my interests. Why I had chosen to study medicine. Why I had gotten into clinical research. Why I was wanting to study towards a Master of Public Health. Why I wanted to do this in the US and at a specific institution. And ultimately, why I would be a worthy recipient of this prestigious scholarship.
Within this more than a year-long process, there were interviews, graduate entry exams (which all potential graduate students must write, including US citizens), and ancillary information which you needed to provide depending on the program and schools you have applied to.
Q) Looking back, how much did you learn from this program, and do you feel it enhanced your ability as a doctor? Would you encourage South African doctors to apply for similar programs?
A) My time in the US and at Johns Hopkins really allowed me to listen, learn and reflect on a variety of things, be it the practice of medicine, humanitarian emergencies, politics, or geopolitics. I was learning from and alongside students from across the world. In addition, I was surrounded by data analysts, consultants, former White House staff, law students and already established public-health professionals, from across the world. Although we were all on different career trajectories, we were all united in our orientation towards public health. Thus, my mind was being fed and each day, I was well satiated. I was adapting, moulding, rethinking and synthesising my thoughts, beliefs and opinions in a way that strengthened them. It was the best time in my life so far beyond any measure, and I would encourage all to consider similar programs.
Q) During your book’s digital launch with Exclusive Books, you mentioned that the working environment for doctors within the American public healthcare system is very much like the South African environment just in different packaging. My understanding is that you were referring to the almost inhumane emotional strength and stability that is commonly expected of medical professionals. Did a look into the healthcare system of the great Americas, change your perspective of our own healthcare system? If so, in what way?
A) Unfortunately, I cannot comment on the entire American public health system. But yes, according to friends and peers whom I met and who shared their experiences, and the courses I took, it didn’t seem as though the experience of medical students and doctors alike were dissimilar, to the experiences of those in our own country. Gaining some insight into the mechanics of the US healthcare system, in all its complexity, was illuminating, but it didn’t particularly change my perspective of our South African healthcare system.
Q) The desire to work abroad is not uncommon among young doctors, but it is generally perceived as an endeavour best reserved for after your community service year. Would you encourage the pursuit of educational avenues abroad before finishing your 3 compulsory years in South Africa?
A) The practice of medicine and the institution of healthcare is changing and not everyone with a medical degree is inspired to be a clinician. Irrespective of one’s desire to become a clinician, I would encourage every single person to pursue their interests even if it means pausing and/or forgoing internship and community service altogether.
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