Before she even graduates as a doctor, final-year medical student Sarah Stein is already asking questions many doctors avoid.

Her widely published article, What They Don’t Teach in Medical School, in which she wrote candidly about moral distress, emotional isolation, and the realities of becoming a doctor in South Africa’s resource-constrained public health system, travelled far enough beyond the lecture halls that it was quoted in the 2025 national budget speech.

In this episode of Awakening Doctor, Sarah, raised in a family of medical academics, grapples openly with legacy, expectation, and the question of whether medicine is truly her chosen path, or one shaped by forces larger than herself. With rare vulnerability, she reflects on both the brutality and privilege of clinical training; the disillusionment, self-doubt, and life-and-death responsibility carried by young trainees; and the challenge of defining what it is to be a good human.

The conversation turns deeply personal when Sarah shares her experience of losing her father, renowned academic Professor Dan Stein, and what it has meant to grieve this devastating personal loss within the very public spaces he once occupied. Her reflections on mourning, ritual, and community reveal how loss reshapes identity, and how essential kindness, compassion, and presence truly are.

At once thoughtful, questioning, passionate, and self-aware, Sarah represents a new generation of young graduates who are asking not only how to practice medicine, but who they are becoming in the process. Join us for a tender and vulnerable conversation about legacy, responsibility, and the evolving heart of medicine.

Read Sarah's article here: https://bhekisisa.org/opinion/2025-05-07-what-they-dont-teach-in-medical-school/

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Host:
Dr Maria Christodoulou

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Disclaimer: The views and experiences shared are those of the individual guest and do not necessarily reflect those of the host or the Awakening Doctor podcast.

In this episode of Awakening Doctor, we meet Dr Lethukwenama Letsoalo, a medical doctor from Bergville in rural KwaZulu-Natal, whose personal journey into medicine and public health is deeply shaped by community, identity, and purpose.

Lethukwenama reflects on growing up as the only girl in a household of seven children, the early inspiration that drew her to medicine, and the youthful certainty that she would one day be like Cristina Yang or Meredith Grey from Grey’s Anatomy. We explore her decision to study at Stellenbosch University and the challenges of navigating leadership, belonging, and systemic inequities within medical training.

She also speaks candidly about the realities of clinical work, her choice to complete her training at the rural clinical school, and the moments that led her to question whether medicine alone could address the social realities determining people’s health.

Now a Master’s graduate in Public Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Lethukwenama discusses her commitment to health equity and culturally responsive care, and her passion for creating accessible health education content in isiZulu to counter misinformation and empower communities to take charge of their own health.

Join us for a thoughtful conversation about responsibility, representation, and the evolving identity of doctors in a changing health system.

Follow Dr Letsoalo on Social Media:

Instagram: https://tr.ee/kA9cj4h48m
TikTok: https://tr.ee/DnedT80zIO
Facebook: https://tr.ee/vMC0DCUOQp

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LethukwenamaLetsoalo

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If you enjoyed this conversation and would like to support this work, please consider donating to our podcast fund using the link above. Your contribution helps us cover production costs and keep bringing you great content. No amount is too small, and your support means the world to us. Thank you for listening!

Host:
Dr Maria Christodoulou

Follow us on Social Media:
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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AwakeningDoctor

Website: https://www.awakeningdoctor.com/podcast

Disclaimer: The views and experiences shared are those of the individual guest and do not necessarily reflect those of the host or the Awakening Doctor podcast.

What do you do when the plan you’re committed to doesn’t work out the way you’d hoped, but your sense of purpose stays the same?

Dr Bianca Leigh Edwards - or Dr B, as she’s affectionately known by her patients - had her heart set on becoming a paediatric oncologist even in her teens. Life, however, had other plans.

In this episode of Awakening Doctor, we reflect on the early childhood influences that catalysed her passion and learn about her challenging personal journey with medicine. One marked by repeated rejections, years of perseverance, and the courage to keep pivoting in the midst of thwarted ambitions.

Together, we explore her postgraduate medical school experience and reflect on the harsh realities she faced as a young COVID intern. Bianca speaks candidly about signing multiple death certificates on her first day as a doctor, the fear of bringing the virus home, the difficult decision to postpone her wedding, and the wise friends and small rituals that helped carry her through that time.

We also reflect on how motherhood has changed the way she practices medicine, and the grief and frustration of having to let go her dream of specialising due to a lack of registrar posts. An unforeseen obstacle that eventually forced her to formulate a Plan B.

Today, Bianca runs a thriving GP practice for children in Cape Town, allowing her to reframe her vocation and honour her passion in ways she didn't anticipate.

If you’ve ever wondered whether being “just a GP” can serve a calling, or how to rebuild a dream when doors are closed and posts are frozen, this episode is for you. Join us for a thought-provoking reflection on the complex interplay between vocation, ambition, individual agency and systemic realities.

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If you enjoyed this conversation and would like to support this work, please consider donating to our podcast fund using the link above. Your contribution helps us cover production costs and keep bringing you great content. No amount is too small, and your support means the world to us. Thank you for listening!

Host:
Dr Maria Christodoulou

Follow us on Social Media:
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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AwakeningDoctor

Website: https://www.awakeningdoctor.com/podcast

Disclaimer: The views and experiences shared are those of the individual guest and do not necessarily reflect those of the host or the Awakening Doctor podcast.

From growing up among political exiles to advocating for the right to health and shaping national policy, Professor Lydia Cairncross's career traces the edges of the operating table and the front lines of social change.

Voted one of Mail & Guardian's 50 most powerful women in 2022, she is a pioneering researcher in breast and endocrine surgery, and the first female Head of the Department of Surgery at the University of Cape Town and Groote Schuur Hospital. A human rights activist committed to equitable healthcare for all.

In this episode of Awakening Doctor, we reflect on the intersection between the professional and the political in her personal story. Lydia speaks candidly about the importance of self-awareness in leadership, the invisible labour women often carry, and the identity shifts that motherhood demanded of her in a system not designed for breastfeeding or work-life balance.

Together, we explore her ongoing struggle to define the margins of burnout and reflect on her vision for a surgical department where people are seen, gifts are valued, and bureaucracy doesn't suffocate passion. Along the way, we dismantle tired stereotypes of surgeons and consider what it means to remain hopeful in a system stretched by austerity.

Join us for a thought-provoking conversation with a leader who is profoundly practical, fiercely optimistic and unapologetically feminine in her bid to change the world.

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Support the show

If you enjoyed this conversation and would like to support this work, please consider donating to our podcast fund using the link above. Your contribution helps us cover production costs and keep bringing you great content. No amount is too small, and your support means the world to us. Thank you for listening!

Host:
Dr Maria Christodoulou

Follow us on Social Media:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/awakeningdoctor/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AwakeningDoctor

Website: https://www.awakeningdoctor.com/podcast

Disclaimer: The views and experiences shared are those of the individual guest and do not necessarily reflect those of the host or the Awakening Doctor podcast.

What would the world be like if we understood that each time a patient shares their story, they are inviting us into the sacred ground of their life? What wisdom might we gain from truly listening to those we aim to help? How might we transform our institutions to better serve our communities?

For Professor Tasleem Ras, family physician, educator, researcher, and Head of UCT's Department of Family, Community and Emergency Care, these questions lie at the heart of the academic endeavour.

In this episode of Awakening Doctor, Prof Ras shares his personal story and reflects on the pivotal moments that have shaped his career: the epiphany that surgery would not fulfil a deeper calling; building a family practice in his childhood community; the difficult decision to leave clinical practice for academia; and managing the CTICC Hospital of Hope during the COVID-19 pandemic – a time when shared vulnerability created unprecedented unity and humanised care.

Together, we explore the lessons he learned from working in under-resourced communities, the existential and ideological tensions facing healthcare today, and the vital role of faith, trust, and humility in medicine.

Through each transition and reflection, Prof. Ras’s philosophy becomes clear: medical education must balance technical competence with empathy and wisdom, must recognise the knowledge that resides in communities, and honour the sacred dimensions of healing.

Join us for a thought-provoking reminder that education, at its best, is an act of hope - shaping not only better doctors, but a better world for us all.

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Support the show

If you enjoyed this conversation and would like to support this work, please consider donating to our podcast fund using the link above. Your contribution helps us cover production costs and keep bringing you great content. No amount is too small, and your support means the world to us. Thank you for listening!

Host:
Dr Maria Christodoulou

Follow us on Social Media:
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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AwakeningDoctor

Website: https://www.awakeningdoctor.com/podcast

Disclaimer: The views and experiences shared are those of the individual guest and do not necessarily reflect those of the host or the Awakening Doctor podcast.

In this episode of Awakening Doctor, we meet Dr Yumna Moosa, a clinician-scientist, mathematician, mother, activist, and truth-teller.

Fresh from her PhD graduation, Yumna speaks with striking honesty about navigating motherhood and dealing with the breakdown of her marriage while completing her studies. She reflects on how trauma can disrupt even the most resilient among us, and how the love and support of family and friends helped her to reclaim her vibrant, fiery self.

She also recounts taking a public stand against bullying and harassment as a medical intern, and the price she paid for speaking truth to power. Together, we explore the uncomfortable reality that junior doctors face many of the same challenges even today, and reflect on what it means to pursue excellence in medicine without being dehumanised.

Amidst the seriousness, Yumna shares the passions that keep her grounded in joy - from motherhood, dancing and capoeira to mathematics, teaching and the celebration of learning. Join us for a heartfelt conversation about resilience, courage, and the power of truth-telling.

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Support the show

If you enjoyed this conversation and would like to support this work, please consider donating to our podcast fund using the link above. Your contribution helps us cover production costs and keep bringing you great content. No amount is too small, and your support means the world to us. Thank you for listening!

Host:
Dr Maria Christodoulou

Follow us on Social Media:
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Website: https://www.awakeningdoctor.com/podcast

Disclaimer: The views and experiences shared are those of the individual guest and do not necessarily reflect those of the host or the Awakening Doctor podcast.

What are the deeper reasons that draw us into the healing professions, and how do they shape the way we practice medicine?

In this episode of Awakening Doctor, Dr Angela de Sá – family physician, integral coach, and senior lecturer at UCT's Department of Family, Community, and Emergency Care – reflects on the experiences that have shaped and defined her medical career. From childhood illness and loss, to leading a busy community health centre for 16 years, and the recent pivotal decision to step away from clinical practice in search of greater balance in her life.

Angela speaks candidly about the work ethic instilled by her immigrant parents, the role coaching played in opening up new ways of listening, leading, and relating, and the surprising difficulty of letting go of a long-standing role to embrace a new chapter.

We explore themes of identity, resilience, and the unspoken costs of a profession that too often prioritises self-sacrifice over self-care. We also reflect on the complex relationship between creativity, perfectionism and self-worth, and the idea that tending to the 'human’ in healthcare is a pathway to transforming the practice of medicine.

Whether you’re a medical professional, a patient navigating the health system, or simply contemplating change, this episode offers a compassionate, thought-provoking look at what becomes possible when humanity is at the heart of healthcare.

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Support the show

If you enjoyed this conversation and would like to support this work, please consider donating to our podcast fund using the link above. Your contribution helps us cover production costs and keep bringing you great content. No amount is too small, and your support means the world to us. Thank you for listening!

Host:
Dr Maria Christodoulou

Follow us on Social Media:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/awakeningdoctor/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AwakeningDoctor

Website: https://www.awakeningdoctor.com/podcast

Disclaimer: The views and experiences shared are those of the individual guest and do not necessarily reflect those of the host or the Awakening Doctor podcast.

Professor Hennie Botha is a renowned gynaecological oncologist and the Executive Head of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Stellenbosch University. A leading clinician, teacher, mentor and researcher, with a particular interest in cervical cancer treatment and prevention.

In this episode of Awakening Doctor, Prof Botha joins Dr Maria Christodoulou to reflect on his leadership journey and medical career. From his early clinical years at a small rural hospital in Malawi to leading an academic department through a time of socio-political transformation, he shares thoughtful insights into the challenges and rewards of academic leadership, and the cultural shifts he has witnessed in medicine over time.

Together, we explore the non-linear path of a medical career, the emotional complexity of working with cancer patients, and the importance of healthy boundaries for navigating grief as a clinician. We also reflect on the restorative power of music and mountains, and the role of humility, openness, and curiosity in facilitating meaningful change.

From quiet introspection to systemic transformation, this episode offers a measured yet powerful perspective on what it means to lead, to serve, and to grow - both as a clinician and as a human being. Join us for a thoughtful reminder that medicine is never just medical; it’s also personal, relational, and political.

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Support the show

If you enjoyed this conversation and would like to support this work, please consider donating to our podcast fund using the link above. Your contribution helps us cover production costs and keep bringing you great content. No amount is too small, and your support means the world to us. Thank you for listening!

Host:
Dr Maria Christodoulou

Follow us on Social Media:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/awakeningdoctor/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AwakeningDoctor

Website: https://www.awakeningdoctor.com/podcast

Disclaimer: The views and experiences shared are those of the individual guest and do not necessarily reflect those of the host or the Awakening Doctor podcast.