Why Did I Become A Doctor South Africa

This episode is brought to you in partnership with MedicalBrief. Stay informed with trusted reporting, expert insights, and analysis that matters to healthcare professionals. From breaking news to in-depth features, MedicalBrief keeps you up to date with everything happening in healthcare. Subscribe free at https://bit.ly/3Pei7o1.

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As a boy in Tlhabane, Rustenburg, all Dr Odirile Moloi wanted was a gold filling — because everyone at school had one. But the locum dentist who saw him that day didn't drill. She picked up a mirror, showed him his teeth, and told him they were beautiful. He walked out without the gold filling he came for — and with a calling he's followed for over two decades.

In this conversation, Dr Moloi traces his journey from a township childhood under Bophuthatswana, through dental school at Medunsa, to building a referral-based endodontic practice in Pretoria. He speaks openly about the matric suspension that nearly derailed everything, the taxi ride to Pretoria without a cell phone to write an aptitude test, losing both parents and his younger brother, and how grief taught him to stop apologising for living fully.

Dr Moloi is a co-founder of OMERI — a dentist-led CPD platform built on the mantra "Making Endodontics simple and accessible to all." What started as informal study groups and WhatsApp discussions has grown into annual conferences, now in their eighth year, covering everything from root canal treatment to implants, aligners, and ethics. He also teaches endodontics to undergraduate and postgraduate students in the odontology department at the University of Pretoria.

But this episode isn't only about teeth. Dr Moloi is a vinyl DJ and collector who grew up surrounded by LPs — inherited records, rescued records, records cleaned and preserved by hand. He talks about why vinyl forces you to be intentional, why music came before dentistry in shaping who he is, and what it means to carry a bag of records to a set instead of plugging in a USB.

There's a moment towards the end where co-host Dr Yak Lindy shares something deeply personal — a scene at an airport before the South Korea trip that made him rethink what was missing in his own life. It's the kind of honesty that makes these conversations worth having.

Co-hosted with Dr Yak Lindy.

This podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. The views expressed by guests do not necessarily represent those of the podcast or hosts and do not constitute professional advice. Always consult with qualified professionals for medical, financial, or career decisions.
🎙️ Why Did I Become A Doctor shares honest, unscripted conversations with doctors, dentists, healthcare professionals, and other inspiring individuals who are shaping the future of healthcare and beyond.
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Sejal Pramlall is a South African oceanographer and PhD candidate at the University of Bergen, Norway. She uses satellites to study the water quality and productivity of the world's oceans — work that sits at the intersection of marine science, climate change, and space technology.

In this episode, Sejal takes us through a journey that is anything but conventional: from growing up in Johannesburg and dreaming of medicine, to a BSc triple major at UCT, a first job in the Maldives that turned out to be a masterclass in greenwashing, an Honours year that took her to Antarctica on a South African icebreaker, a Masters at the University of Victoria in Canada with fieldwork on Calvert Island with the Hakai Institute, a sailing expedition from Cape Town to Mozambique, and eventually a PhD opportunity she found on Twitter — the day after her Canadian visa was rejected.

We also get into what it means to be a young South African Indian woman in a field where representation is rare, why she left South Africa (and what it would take to bring her back), the difference between happiness and satisfaction, and why your job title is not your identity.

🔗 Connect with Sejal on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sejal-pramlall-442313133/

This podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. The views expressed by guests do not necessarily represent those of the podcast or hosts and do not constitute professional advice. Always consult with qualified professionals for medical, financial, or career decisions.
🎙️ Why Did I Become A Doctor shares honest, unscripted conversations with doctors, dentists, healthcare professionals, and other inspiring individuals who are shaping the future of healthcare and beyond.
💬 Enjoyed the episode?
Please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify — it really helps us grow and inspire the next generation.
🔗 Connect with us:
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• LinkedIn
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🚀 Want to collaborate, support the show, or find out more?
Visit whydidibecomeadoctor.com or email us at [email protected].

This episode is brought to you in partnership with MedicalBrief. Stay informed with trusted reporting, expert insights, and analysis that matters to healthcare professionals. From breaking news to in-depth features, MedicalBrief keeps you up to date with everything happening in healthcare. Subscribe free at https://bit.ly/3Pei7o1.

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"I became a doctor. I landed up becoming a scientist — because of an epidemic."

In this episode, we sit down with Professor Glenda Gray — one of the world's leading HIV and vaccine scientists, past President and CEO of the South African Medical Research Council, Time Magazine Top 100 Most Influential Person, and recipient of the Order of Mapungubwe in Silver.

But before all of that, she was a girl from the wrong side of the railway line in Boksburg, reading a book a day in her pyjamas, selling tomatoes at train stations with her mother, and dreaming of running a paediatric ward at Baragwanath Hospital.

This conversation covers it all — the teacher who threw a test on her desk and said "Not good enough", what it was like watching HIV go from an exotic curiosity to every third child in her ward dying, the moment she put HIV-positive mothers and their babies in her car and drove them to argue with an ethics committee — and won, briefing Anthony Fauci every Sunday during COVID, receiving death threats from anti-vaxxers serious enough to warrant a bodyguard, and why she believes science is not a luxury — it's the most important investment a poor country can make.

This is one of those episodes you don't just listen to. You feel it.

What we cover:
- Growing up poor and white in Boksburg in apartheid South Africa
- Getting into Wits Medical School on a diversity ticket in 1981 — and why she believes in social engineering
- The physics teacher who saw something in her she couldn't yet see in herself
- Being politicised at university and refusing to rotate through wards that excluded Black students
- The arrival of HIV: from exotic disease to epidemic to personal loss
- How necessity turned a paediatrician into one of Africa's most important scientists
- The breastfeeding vs. formula debate that sparked international controversy
- Leading South Africa's COVID research response — and being weeks ahead of the world
- Death threats, bodyguards, and standing firm on the science
- Time Magazine Top 100 and meeting Trevor Noah in New York
- Her current work on HIV vaccines and the HIV-cancer connection
- Red wine, cold water swimming, body boarding, and why community is everything

This podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. The views expressed by guests do no
🎙️ Why Did I Become A Doctor shares honest, unscripted conversations with doctors, dentists, healthcare professionals, and other inspiring individuals who are shaping the future of healthcare and beyond.
💬 Enjoyed the episode?
Please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify — it really helps us grow and inspire the next generation.
🔗 Connect with us:
• YouTube
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🚀 Want to collaborate, support the show, or find out more?
Visit whydidibecomeadoctor.com or email us at [email protected].

Dr Yaseen Bismilla is one of South Africa's few specialist forensic pathologists - and a TikTok sensation with over 209,000 followers. In this conversation, we explore his journey from a small church town in the North West to becoming the voice for victims who can no longer speak for themselves.

Yaseen takes us through his unexpected path into forensic pathology, starting with a placement at a rape crisis centre during his community service year - "the placement nobody wanted" - that changed everything. We discuss the realities of working in South Africa's mortuaries, the mental health toll of this work, how he ended up creating educational content that's reached millions, and what it means to speak for the dead.

We cover his upbringing in Potchefstroom, the biology teacher who sparked his medical journey, what a typical day in forensic pathology actually looks like, and his master's research on femicides in South Africa. Yaseen opens up about how dark humour helps him cope, being held at gunpoint and spending two weeks in a mental health facility, building a TikTok following that educates millions, the cases that stay with you forever, and why he's actually quite shy and introverted despite his online presence.

This is a raw, honest conversation about choosing a career path that confronts death daily, finding meaning in speaking for those who cannot speak, and the surprising role social media plays in death education and mental health support.

**Recorded:** 24 January 2026

**Disclaimer:** This podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. The views expressed by guests do not necessarily represent those of the podcast or hosts and do not constitute professional advice. Always consult with qualified professionals for medical, financial, or career decisions.
🎙️ Why Did I Become A Doctor shares honest, unscripted conversations with doctors, dentists, healthcare professionals, and other inspiring individuals who are shaping the future of healthcare and beyond.
💬 Enjoyed the episode?
Please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify — it really helps us grow and inspire the next generation.
🔗 Connect with us:
• YouTube
• Instagram
• Facebook
• Twitter (X)
• LinkedIn
• WhatsApp Channel
🚀 Want to collaborate, support the show, or find out more?
Visit whydidibecomeadoctor.com or email us at [email protected].

Dr Zain Dangor is a maxillofacial and oral surgeon practising in Lenasia and Vereeniging. In this conversation, he shares his journey from aspiring cricketer to surgeon, the challenges of balancing a demanding surgical career with family life, and the profound moments that remind him why he chose this path.
We discuss his training journey from dentistry at Wits to specialising in maxillofacial surgery, the realities of running a private maxillofacial practice, dealing with burnout during COVID, and why the "pamphlet moment" with a patient's daughter changed how he thinks about his work. Zain also opens up about his struggles with self-promotion, his dream of doing humanitarian work with his children, and why collaboration matters more than competition.
Topics Covered:
Growing up in Lenasia and giving up provincial cricket for dentistry
Why he chose maxillofacial surgery over other dental specialties
The application process and training journey at Wits
Running a private practice: the business side of surgery
Patient stories that shaped his approach to care
Work-life balance and managing guilt as a surgeon parent
Burnout, self-reflection, and staying grounded
The value of mentorship and building a supportive team
Why he's uncomfortable with social media despite its benefits
Future goals: humanitarian work and raising compassionate kids
Disclaimer: The content shared in this podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It reflects the personal experiences and opinions of the guests and hosts and should not be considered medical, legal, or professional advice. Listeners are encouraged to consult qualified professionals for specific guidance related to their individual circumstances.
🎙️ Why Did I Become A Doctor shares honest, unscripted conversations with doctors, dentists, healthcare professionals, and other inspiring individuals who are shaping the future of healthcare and beyond.
💬 Enjoyed the episode?
Please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify — it really helps us grow and inspire the next generation.
🔗 Connect with us:
• YouTube
• Instagram
• Facebook
• Twitter (X)
• LinkedIn
• WhatsApp Channel
🚀 Want to collaborate, support the show, or find out more?
Visit whydidibecomeadoctor.com or email us at [email protected].