Top student does family
“EVERYONE’S mom is their number one fan and I think my dad was just shocked,” says University of Kwazulu-natal’s (UKZN) top graduating doctor, Dr Dimitrije Mamontov, after he took home seven of eight prestigious awards for different medical disciplines this week.
Obtaining a summa cum laude MBCHB degree, Mamontov, 25, said his parents and sister had been supportive during his six years of study.
His awards included the YK Seedat Prize for the top MBCHB student, the Professor Meera Chhagan Award for excellence in paediatrics, the Alan B Taylor Prize for obstetrics and gynaecology and the RWS Cheetham Senior Memorial Prize for top marks in psychiatry.
He was given a box so he could take all his awards home.
“All these awards seem surreal. I wasn’t gunning for awards. I was just working.”
His father was “shocked” by all his awards “because generally I joke around a lot”.
But keeping a sense of humour was a core strategy for Mamontov to survive the long hours and stressful days as an intern.
“The long hours are standard. It’s the culture of medicine. There’s no use complaining. They’ve heard it all before; in fact they were you once. You have to be resilient.”
An old boy of Durban Boys’ High School, he started his internship at Tambo Memorial Hospital in Boksburg in January.
“In Grade 8 we were asked what we would like to study and medicine seemed like a reasonable choice. But now, doing it every day, I know it was the right choice. I don’t see myself doing anything else. The first time I went into a theatre, I loved it and knew it was the place I wanted to be. Calling it a theatre also speaks to the drama which takes place there.
“Most people don’t want to study, but I could do it for hours in my first three years. Once we got to clinical training, we were insanely busy in hospitals around Durban.”
Neurosurgery is at the top of his list. “I know people talk about being a brain surgeon, but that’s what I really want to do. I like the dexterity of surgery and having to be completely focused. I would like to be challenged as a surgeon.”
He said he was is reminded every day how lucky he is.
“I fondly remember day one in the dissecting hall, clerking my first patient, scrubbing into my first surgery, helping a mother bring life into the world and desperately pounding on the chest during my first resuscitation. This is a career like no other and, although a tough night on call will try its best to convince me otherwise, it is an honour and a privilege to care for people.”
Mamontov spoke passionately about what is required in the health sector. “Addressing the health disparity is the first thing that needs to be done. GPS are often required to be a jack of all trades and there are lot of generalists out there in the rural field who are doing amazing work.”
The main challenge young doctors face is finding confidence. “I could always do the studying, I always had a good memory. The hardest thing is to find your confidence and stand on your own findings. Also realising that at 25 years old you are someone’s doctor, that’s a lot of responsibility.”
He “actively focuses on his hobbies”, either playing his guitar, devouring books, or playing soccer.
“I think having an appreciation for art and literature makes you more wellrounded and so maybe a better doctor.
“I also started playing soccer recently even though I’m one of the most clumsy people you have ever met. But exercise helps you not die sooner,” he said.
“After soccer, we have a ritual to go out somewhere different every week. Joburg is insanely diverse. You can go to any kind of ethnic restaurant; Korean cuisine is my favourite at the moment.”
He is part Serbian, part Russian and the first South African in his family. Mamontov is a Durban boy at heart. Whenever he comes home, he heads straight for the beach.
He’s had the privilege of learning from some of the very best.
“After my stints at Durban’s busiest hospitals, I feel I am well-equipped to fly the flag high here in Gauteng.”