Dr Masonwabe Makrexeni, Mthatha’s first resident heart specialist, says that returning home is not for the faint-hearted.
But being appointed as the first paediatric cardiologist specialist in the Nelson Mandela Central Hospital was deeply satisfying.
“It is fulfilling to be back home. That is the whole point of my purpose. When you come from a centre that already has everything, you need heart to work in Mthatha because you have to start from scratch. But I wouldn’t be here if I was not up to the challenge,” he said.
His arrival means children born with congenital heart disease will no longer have to travel to Port Elizabeth or Cape Town for treatment.
After completing three years of training at Port Elizabeth’s Dora Nginza hospital, Makrexeni is now in the OR Tambo region to help establish the region’s only cardiac catheterisation laboratory (cathlab).
Born in eMpindweni near Mthatha, Makrexeni grew up in the rural Eastern Cape.
He studied medicine at Walter Sisulu University and later went on to work and train with Professor Lungile Pepeta, who is the dean of the faculty of health sciences at the Nelson Mandela University.
Makrexeni said he would be campaigning for the hospital’s cathlab to be functioning soon because until then patients had to travel hours from Mthatha to Dora Nginza hospital, which was stressful.
“It was always in the pipeline for me to come and bring this essential service this side because of the massive need. Most congenital patients come from this region but they cannot be treated here,” he said.
Prior to this patients were referred to Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital in KZN.
Makrexeni said he discovered his passion for cardiology after working in paediatrics and trained at the Red Cross Children’s Hospital in Cape Town.
“I had always wanted to be a doctor but never really thought much of it until I passed matric. Then, while studying medicine, I discovered that I liked paediatrics.
“I was later inspired to specialise in paediatric cardiology,” said Makrexeni...