City Press reports that sitting at home is not an option for an unemployed KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) doctor and she would rather volunteer for free than go insane.
Lungile Khumalo sees being a medical doctor as a calling and not just a job. The 31-year-old Khumalo, who is based in Hluhluwe village, is among the 800 doctors who have not been placed. She has decided to volunteer in community health outreach programmes to maintain her sanity. Khumalo completed her medical degree at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in 2019 and did her community service at Hlabisa Hospital in 2022. The mother of one says her dream is to be a doctor who can make a difference in the health sector by working selflessly and going beyond her call of duty. “What we are going through as doctors nationally should never happen in future. More than anything, this has taught us to be patient and explore other avenues within the health sector,” she commented. Khumalo, who was part of the protesting doctors at the of the KZN health department headquarters in Pietermaritzburg last week, is crossing her fingers that MEC Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu’s undertaking that there would be job opportunities available from the end of this month is true. Simelane-Zulu promised doctors they could apply for jobs that would be released by the end of April. Meantime, the doctors have vowed not to stop their protests until they have been absorbed into the system.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Promise Marupeng at City Press (subscriber access only)
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