SA Varsity Student

This is Thembisa Mngadi a certified financial planner otherwise known as a CFP professional. We interviewed her to find out how a last born from a disadvantaged family, raised by a single mother managed to beat the odds and succeed academically to become a CFP professional. We hope this interview will inspire you to follow the careers you want even if there are challenges because where there is a will there is a way.

1.Tell us a little about yourself, your background and your career choice.

My name is Thembisa Mngadi, 27 years of age, born in Durban but my family is from the South Coast, Ixopo. I did all my primary and secondary schooling at Inanda and finished my Matric in 2007. In 2008 I was accepted in UKZN to do my Bcom Undergrad Degree. Before I came to university, I thought I would be a CA, with difficulties I experienced in varsity, I changed my Majors to Economics and Marketing, I then pursued my Honours in Marketing Management finishing in 2012. I was luckier than most, I got an internship in KZN Department of Treasury as an Economics Intern. Due to lower stipends and I had a lot responsibilities then, I had to look for other jobs opportunities, it is then that I was introduced to the Financial planning career as I was taken by Sanlam on their 1 year Financial Advisor Graduate Program in 2013.

2. What made you decide to become a financial planner?

The Sanlam Graduate was very interesting in terms of what we learned about being a financial planner and how you can change people's life through financial planning, it was also an eye opener to realize that financial planning plays a big role in ones life. At that point I knew I needed a career that will give me an opportunity to change people's life and mind-sets about finances. With so many people in debt in South Africa and people lacking simple budgeting skills, I knew this was the career path I should take.

3. What does one need to study(qualifications needed) and where can they study?

There are many qualifications that allow one to be a financial planner, such as Bcom Financial Planning, which you can do if you come straight from school in Universities such as UJ, university of the Free State and Milpark College.

For one to be a recognized Certified Financial Planner, they need to meet the 4 Es of the profession, which is Education (Post Grad Diploma in Financial Planning), Experience (Which is min 3 years in the financial services Industry) the third E is for the Examination, which is a Board Exam you write through the Financial Planning Institute of SA, which is our professional body in SA. The last E is that of Ethics, just like other professions, ethical behaviour as a financial planner is vital.

4. What challenges did you face during your studies and how did you overcome them?

Throughout my studies, both full time and part time financial constraints has always been at the forefront. But other than that, studying while working and have to take care of your family is always a challenge. There is nothing that beat perseverance and knowing your goals for the future.

5. When you started working was it exactly as you expected or were there surprises.

I think every student thinks getting the highest qualification in your field will make you an expert and will give you the highest salary in your field, well this is not the case. You always have to work hard and at the best of your abilities to go to higher levels of your career, never think being qualified and having enough experience will bring luck and magic for your career. Sell yourself, and always upgrade your skills.

6. What are the different career paths one can follow within your field, and would you say there is room for growth within your field to rise in positions and climb the corporate ladder.

The Financial service industry is very broad and that's the beauty about it, you can move from one path to another when you are a CFP. One can be an Investment Specialist, Estate Planning Specialist. Just like a Dr, you can choose to be a GP or specialize in a specific field. There is big room for growth, but one needs to always grow themselves with relevant industry studies.

7. How long does it take from the time one finishes their studies to the time one earns a comfortable competitive salary?

Comfortable salary different for different people. Having said that, the financial planning profession is an entrepreneurial profession, one determine their levels of earnings, depending on the space you in. If you are a financial planner, the earnings are limited by how much hard work you put in. I would say to build a sustainable practice is different for people, but the average time they give you is about 3-5 years.

8. Which type of people would you encourage to go for a career in financial planning and what advice would you give them?

I won't lie and say this is an easy career, No. One needs to have passion for the profession, have passion for people and have resilience. You need to be a hard and smart worker. If you are able to put other people first before yourself, then Financial Planning is for you. Be a networker, communicate with people.

We asked Thembisa for one sentence to describe financial planning, here is her response:

The greatest career that does not get the recognition it deserves.

To get in touch with Thembisa:

Facebook: Thembisa V Mngadi

LinkedIn: Thembisa Mngadi CFP®

Read our previous interview with Medical Doctor Luke Sampson.

1. Tell us a little about yourself

My name is Luke Sampson. I am a Community Service Medical Officer (CSMO) and I come from Port Elizabeth. I am also a musician, music producer and a DJ.

2. Have you always known that you want to be a doctor?

From a young age I always had an interest in Medicine, but it was not always what I wanted to do as a career. Up until grade 11 I wanted to become an Aeronautical Engineer. It was only in my matric year that I felt that my calling in life was to become a doctor and I believed that this was God’s plan for me.

3. What made you choose medicine?

I chose to do Medicine initially because I felt that it was a ‘life-calling’ and it was what God wanted me to pursue. However, I also liked it because it was very academic and posed a good challenge for me. The idea of then also being able to give back to my community, in the most direct way possible, was more motivation than any other.

4. What were the main challenges while studying?

The biggest challenge whilst studying was having to deal with life outside of Medicine, moving on without you. It is now a ‘challenge’ to know what is happening in your family’s lives, and this makes you feel very distant from what has been your reality for the last 18+ years.

The other difficulties were much more academic, and the pressure is very real. All the time.

There is no time to take your foot off the accelerator, because you will fall behind. However, you must always make time for yourself and those who make you happy. This is what motivates you. You will see yourself grow and you are directly responsible for the direction in which you grow towards.

Another big challenge that is continuous, is not wavering when your morals and beliefs are challenged, because this will happen every day, but developing yourself into the person who you want to be.

5. What happens when you graduate?

When you graduate from Medical School, you then start your internship. You get given a practicing number and with that a logbook that needs to be completed after your 2 years of internship. This logbook is very similar to the logbooks that you must complete during Medical School, and like the logbooks it Medical School, if they are lost or damaged, everything must be done and signed off all over again. This can be hundreds of tasks that need to now be completed in a very short space of time. Don’t put yourself in this position.

During internship, you rotate through all the different departments in a hospital, or complex of hospitals. This, is not usually your home town or where you studied, but is a place that is chosen at random from a list of options that you provide. Sometimes if you can’t be placed because posts have been filled at the hospital already, you are then second rounded and must apply to a list of hospitals that still have available posts.

At the end of internship, if you have been signed off by each department and found to be a safe doctor, you are then allowed to apply for community service. This is a very similar allocation process as is done when applying for internship in your final year of university.

Once you have completed your community service year, you can either go into private practice or to continue in state service. To specialise you must be at a hospital in state service to train as a specialist. However, if you have gone into private healthcare, you can come back into the state service.

Most specialisations require 4 years or more in a training position (registrar) at a state hospital and a hand full of examinations before you can be certified as a specialist, or sub-specialist.

If you would not like to work in the private health sector and you would not like to specialise, you can work in the specific department that you enjoy most in a state hospital or clinic and you can also take many different extra courses in the field that you enjoy.

But what if you do not want to practice medicine anymore? Well, then you can literally do almost any type of work that you would like to do. Medicine can either take a lot away from you or it can give a lot to you in many ways. It is up to you to choose where the path leads. It is your life.

6. How would you describe your experience so far? Have you thought about your next move…whether to specialize or to open your own practice?

From the day I started final year I had a very ambitious, but achievable, plan for my future. Deeply rooted in medicine. Very academically directed. And also, very selfish.

I had achieved some things in university that not many have, and I valued this very highly. I was advised by some people, whose opinions I valued very much and who were role models for my life and my plan, to pursue these goals and to pursue them to the fullest. This was an honour for me, not because of what I achieved, but because it made me realised that these people saw in me, a bit of that something that made them great.

I always loved the heart. Always. Mainly because of its mechanics and because it was the only organ that produced a beat. An ever altering but always controlled beat. And learning the reasons why this beat would no longer be controlled or exist fascinated me and thus I want to specialise in cardiology one day.

However, life had other plans, 2 months of internship, the beginning of my plan of getting onto the path of becoming a cardiologist one day. Life taught me a very humbling lesson. I had to admit my grandmother and grandfather to hospital on the same day. My grandfather had a severe heart attack and spent the next few weeks in a medically induced coma in ICU. Whilst my grandmother was diagnosed with a brain tumour and later passed away from complications of the surgery.

This, and other challenging events have made me look at my plan and ask myself if I still want to do it, or if I can still do it, but in a less selfish way. It also made me look at how I am being selfish towards myself in not doing things that will make me happy. I have since started making house music with some friends of mine. And I am starting to take it seriously. It makes me happy. But so, does medicine.

7. What advice do you have for anyone going into medicine?

My advice to anyone wanting to do Medicine is to do it fully. Do not go into it feeling unsure. And if you are unsure, ask yourself why and that will let you know what will truly make you happy.

Find out what you need to do to get into the university you want to get into and do everything you can to do that.

Make medicine your hobby and make what is your hobby, your job. That is the quickest way to do what is your love and what is your passion at the same time.

And always be thankful. Wherever you are, you are in a better place than someone else.

Where to find Dr Luke:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/luke-sampson-427a722a/
https://www.facebook.com/TheHUGECollective/
https://soundcloud.com/thesoundofhuge

Read our previous interview with Accountant Zanethemba Malinga.

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requirements to be accepted in a South African medical school

It is the dream of many South African parents for their kids to become medical doctors. Television shows like Greys Anatomy also play an influential role when it comes to deciding a future career in high school. Many high school learners have the dream to become medical doctors but unfortunately there are not enough medical schools in South Africa or enough spaces in the lecture theatres. The demand for a medical doctors in South Africa far exceeds the supply.

What are the requirements to be accepted into medical school?

Each university is different and has different criteria. And you can check out the criteria required by each medical school by going to their websites (listed later on in this post) and downloading the prospectus for each university. Generally speaking though, medicine is one of the most competitive courses to get into in South Africa as the top students from all provinces and other African countries apply for positions in South African medical schools (because we have some of the best medical schools in the world). It is easier to get accepted into medical school if you are black or coloured compared to Indian or White applicants, as the notorious “Quota System” is used in South Africa to address the imbalances of the past so that medical schools and doctors graduating are representative of the South African demographic. An article by new24 stated that Nelson R. Mandela Medical School had 250 seats for first year medicine and of those 250, 69% of the students accepted are black, 19% Indian, 9% Coloured, 2% White and 1% other. Other universities have different ratios of course. The average marks of the students accepted for each racial group are not the same, by this I mean if you are black you will be competing against the top black applicants to that university, so in the case of Nelson R. Mandela Medical School, if you are black there are 173 seats for black students, so you would have to be part of the top 173 black applicants to that university. The lowest weighted academic average for black students accepted at Nelson R. Mandela Medical School was 83,16% compared to 75.5% for coloured students, 90.86% for Indian students and 87,66% for white students. By using this information alone you can tell that it will be more difficult for white and indian students to find a place in a South African medical school as they would have to be 90’s students. The competition is even worse at the country's top universities such as UCT, WITS & UP.

Many South Africans who are really passionate about becoming doctors end up going to study medicine in other countries because they cannot get a place at a South African medical school as it is too difficult to get accepted if you are nit black or coloured.

What subjects are needed in high school to become a doctor?

Maths (not maths Literacy), physical science and life sciences are the subjects generally required when applying for medicine in South Africa but I know a few people who have been accepted into medical school and have done well despite not having done life sciences in high school.

How long does it take to study medicine in South Africa?

To become a doctor in South Africa you have to study for 6 years (5 years at UFS) or 7 years if you are on the extended programme provided you do not fail any year.

What are the different ways to get into medical school in South Africa?

· The most direct way is straight from matric if you have awesome marks and community service etc but this is the hardest way to get in for most people.

· The second way is to apply to study for a course related to medicine in health sciences, biology or in science and perform well so that you can apply to transfer into medicine in your second year of varsity.

· The 3^rd way is through to apply to wits medical school to enter into 3^rd year of medical school through their Graduate Entry Medical Programme, if you have completed a degree in university that included subjects in Biology, Physics and/or Chemistry. Click here to find out more about that option and its entry requirements.

· The 4^th way is to apply to go to study medicine in Cuba on the government bursary.

Medical Schools in South Africa and their fees

1 University of Cape Town - ZAR 69560

2 University of Witwatersrand - ZAR 62890

3 University of Pretoria - ZAR 55000

4 University of kwaZulu-Natal - ZAR 44220

5 University of Stellenbosch - ZAR 55096

6 University of the FreeState - ZAR 44390

7 Walter Sisulu University - ZAR

8 Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University ( previously known as MEDUNSA) - ZAR 31450

9 University of Limpopo - ZAR 48038

I took the average fee for medicine given by university or the fee for 1^st year where that was given. It was hard to find the fees for Walter Sisulu University, if anyone attends there, please share the fees via email or on our FB page.

Bursaries & Funding for medicine

Each university shares bursaries or funding opportunities in its fees handbook/site so you must take a look at that, as well as contacting the department of health via the contact details I shared to check for bursaries as well as your local municipalities as there are medicine bursaries awarded each year. Another way to find bursaries is to simply type “medicine bursaries South Africa” on google every now and then to see if there are any new bursaries you can apply for. If you are poor you can apply for nsfas.

If you are interested in becoming a doctor here are some useful resources:

1 http://mindonmed.com/2011/07/medical-school-in-south-africa.html

2 https://barefootmeds.wordpress.com/2016/01/20/overview-a-new-study-about-selection-criteria-at-south-african-medical-schools/

3 Interview with DR Luke Sampson about studying medicine and what happens after graduation