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.