At Atterbury Trust we consider it an honour to find solutions for hard-working, talented students who battle financial constraints that prevent them from further studies. We don’t often have the opportunity to help a medical doctor to qualify in a specialist field, to enable him to contribute to the community’s health care on an even higher level, and the story of Dr JT Coetzee captured our imagination. It’s our privilege to reach out to our wonderful network of generous donors to help make his dream a reality.
Just imagine the frustration of a brilliant young doctor with a burning desire to study further to qualify as a specialist in a crucially under-resourced field; but due to his population group he is not selected because there is no budget left to fund people like him. And then imagine the worry of a top hospital that specializes in cardio-thorax surgery, and that has a pressing need for new young surgeons as the existing specialists approach retirement age.
This is exactly the situation at Pretoria’s Zuid-Afrikaans Hospitaal (ZAH), as well as the reality for Dr Jacobus (JT) Coetzee and his life-long dream , who has an earnest desire to become a cardiothoracic surgeon.
Cardiology and cardiothoracic surgery are the backbone of the medical and surgical services offered at ZAH, which currently employs four surgeons full time to cater to the high demand for heart and lung treatment. Specialists in this field are in high demand since cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in South Africa after HIV/Aids. The education authority for health and welfare has confirmed that cardiothoracic surgeons are one of the most needed categories of doctors in health care today.
At ZAH there is such a high level of activity in cardiology that they require a cardiothoracic surgeon on duty 24/7 to support all the patients who undergo heart procedures. The pressing need for a new specialist on the team lead the hospital to identify Dr JT Coetzee as the ideal candidate, and it was his impressive CV as well as his life-long dream to become a cardiothoracic surgeon that brought his name onto ZAH’s radar.
Dr Coetzee has already passed the primary exam, which includes basic surgical skills, so he is in possession of the minimum qualification required by the College of Cardiothorac Surgeons. At present he is preparing for the intermediary exam. He is currently working as a medical officer at Kimberley Hospital, in general surgery and cardiothoracic surgery, after focusing on gaining experience in cardiothoracic surgery during his medical internship and his community service year. He graduated in 2015 with a First Class MBChB at the University of Pretoria, where he was also awarded two highly rated academic medals, the Trubshaw Medal and the Frederich Luvuno Medal.
Dr Coetzee co-authored and published an article about wound infection, and will be presenting his research at a medical conference later this year.
It is expected that once he has qualified, Dr JT will be an invaluable asset to the cardiothoracic discipline as a whole. The hospital plans that he would work in the emergency ward during his spare time to hone his skills to the benefit of his patients.
Qualifying as a cardiothoracic surgeon is not an easy task, and the extreme level of speciality it requires come with a very high price tag. The cost of the training programme is estimated at around R900 000 per annum, or R3.6 million in total for the four years of the course. Fortunately for Dr Coetzee, half of this figure has been secured thanks to the generosity of a handful of donors, including a top pharmaceutical and equipment company which has confirmed in principle to sponsor 50% of Dr JT’s course. For his first year of studies, next year, an amount of R200 000 is still urgently required.
We would like to appeal to everyone who would like to contribute to the maintenance of exceptional medical excellence in South Africa. We welcome once-off donations as well as monthly donations. Each donation towards Dr Coetzee’s studies will earn an Article 18A tax certificate. To find out more about how to donate, email [email protected]
ZAH is a 139-bed private, independent, nonprofit hospital in Muckleneuk, Pretoria, that was founded in 1904.