Nowadays, a lot of South Africans choose to study medicine in Europe and pursue a medical doctor’s career. Along with a lot of British students, they decide to do their higher education on the old continent because of the fantastic opportunities for them.
They choose to take this road because of the difficulties there are with getting accepted into medical schools in their home country. The UK’s medical universities’ admission policies are especially ruthless. According to recent statistics, 20 applicants are fighting for a single place both for studying medicine and dentistry.
I’m going to present to you the story of my best friend Lethabo, who is now a 3rd-year medical student in Slovakia.
Lethabo had always had this dream of becoming a medical doctor. Throughout his childhood, he always knew that one day, he is going to pursue medicine. However, when we both graduated from high school back in the day, he got rejected from all of the medical schools in South Africa that he had applied to. He retried using through the next three years, and he still couldn’t succeed. What’s more, his options for universities were limited because of the extreme costs of studying.
During this period, I had already started studying at university in my chosen field, and he was desperate that he wasn’t able to pursue his dream. I felt obliged to help him. With our joint efforts, we managed to find his life-savers. It turned out that there is an educational consultancy agency in Europe that helps students study medicine in Europe. According to them, they’ve sent more than 40 students from South Africa to pursue their dreams in Europe.
We were both extremely pleased to hear that there are other of our countrymen who struggle to pursue medicine here and manage to fulfil themselves in Europe. We got in touch with William from South Africa who was studying graduate medicine in Europe, and he assured us what a fantastic opportunity it is. It was mid-April at the time, so he applied for the next September intake to study medicine in Kosice, Slovakia. The organisation mentioned above helped him get accepted, and we were thrilled!
Knowing that my best friends had finally been able to do what he’s always wanted made me one of the happiest people in the world!
Lethabo left for Slovakia in September, and at the end of his first year of medicine, he was the best student in the whole university! This is clear evidence of how enthusiasm, passion and motivation are directly linked to success. Sometimes it’s not just about intelligence or talent; it’s more about dedication.
As previously mentioned, my friend is now a 3rd-year medical student, and he is still the top of his whole 200 people study course. He also met a couple of other South Africans who were all exceptional students themselves. They’ve established a community that is recognised as the brightest students in the university and is making an incredible name for South Africans.
I can’t wait for the time when he graduates as a certified professional medical doctor and comes back home. I know that he will be the best doctor in whichever hospital he chooses to work or specialise in. He’s got what it takes to succeed in medical school.
I believe that no one should ever give up on his dreams as after all, what’s life without doing that? If he had given up after the first time, he couldn’t succeed, he would’ve never become a doctor.
Decide to be who you’ve always wanted to be, don’t be afraid of grasping the opportunities by the throat and making the most of them!
