On Youth Day in 2022, Dr Sandile Khubeka posted a picture of his 15-year-old self during his matric year in 2008. Next to it he penned a note, promising to make that fresh-faced boy proud.
Fifteen years later, the high-achieving doctor is well on his way to achieving that goal.
Khubeka made waves nationwide in 2013 when he became South Africa’s youngest doctor after graduating from the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Nelson Mandela School of Medicine at the age of 20.
The KwaZulu-Natal native finished school at the age of 15 after an early start to his schooling and completing two grades in one year.
Khubeka juggles being a cardinal symptoms of disease module co-ordinator and lecturer within the department of internal medicine at the University of KwaZulu-Nata (UKZN), a researcher and clinician.
Khubeka opened up about the journey since graduating from medical school in an interview with TimesLIVE.
Reflecting on the December he received his results, Khubeka recalled that was the same month former president Nelson Mandela died — and closer to home, around the same time he lost one of his aunts.
The first article highlighting his impressive feat was published by the Zulu-language newspaper Isolezwe.
“It was quite [an] interesting [time]. That aunt who passed on, at the time she was one of the people that couldn’t believe it [when I went to medical school],” he said, adding he had hoped to prove her wrong but never got to do so as she died shortly before he received his results.
“There was [also] a lot that happened just before we got our results. The weekend before our final exams, in our residence someone had broken into my room and stole all my electronic devices, including the work that I needed to submit. I had to redo six weeks [worth of work] in less than a week.
“I don’t remember writing the exams. Because I had lack of sleep, I was sick in one exam and they [examiners] said, ‘You can’t do the exam because you’re too sick.’ But I said, ‘I’m going to do it anyway’.”
This fighting spirit paid off as Khubeka went on to obtain his bachelor of medicine and bachelor of surgery degree (MBChB), with an added distinction in obstetrics and gynaecology.
Shortly before that, he was awarded the Yashiv Sham bursary and the Enid Gordon Jacob Good Fellowship prize in recognition of his compassion, care and leadership among his classmates during his tenure at medical school.
While Khubeka finished medical school in a blaze of glory, the decade after was bumpy for him as he had to balance furthering his passion while dealing with the “spotlight” that came with his recognition.
“One thing with that experience is that it puts you on the spotlight. It puts you in a position where you sort of feel like everyone is watching you. It’s been the most difficult 10 years I’ve ever experienced because there is no room for error.
“As much as I’ve had moments of failure throughout the past 10 years, having to add the part where I’m in the spotlight, it’s almost like people are watching you and [asking], ‘Is he capable?’
“When you’re unable to do certain things, you feel undeserving and start declining certain opportunities presented to you because you feel like you’re putting yourself out there and you are opening yourself up to critique.”
While Khubeka said he didn’t set out to graduate that young, the milestone eventually felt like a “weapon that was not allowing me to be more happy”.
Another challenge he had to deal with was burnout, explaining it “felt like I was giving more and more and never took care of myself”.
On the flipside, the past decade brought moments of pride and happiness for Khubeka. He received UKZN’s best registrar award for 2022 and fulfilled his ambition of becoming a specialist physician after obtaining his Fellowship of the College of Physicians of South Africa.
“I think one of my proudest moments is being able to get my fellowship exams in the college of medicines to become a specialist physician. Being a registrar was the most difficult four years of my life and being able to achieve that difficult process was one of the proudest moments,” he said.
“What made me even more proud was having to get that after the period of Covid-19.”
A decade earlier, Khubeka had expressed an interest in becoming an endocrinologist and said while he still loves it, his interest shifted to critical care.
An endocrinologist is a doctor “who treats diseases related to problems with hormones”, according to the society for endocrinology.
While things are yet to normalise, Khubeka said he has found “stability in some areas”.
“It’s been a journey of learning through trial and error and learning to be more content with myself and happy with whatever outcomes I’ve had.
“I think I’ve done most of the things I mentioned 10 years ago. I recently posted my matric photo on my Instagram page where I said ‘Note to self: I’m going to make you so proud’, and every time I look at that picture, I’m sure the 15-year-old me in matric in the photo is proud of the goals I’ve set for myself because I think I’ve been able to achieve some of the goals and I’m proud of myself in the way I’ve grown as a person.”
TimesLIVE
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