When Dr Onicca Teffo, 34, left her permanent job as an occupational therapist and her two little children at home to pursue her medical degree, she felt like an irresponsible wife and mother.
“Venturing into medicine was a very difficult choice. My youngest son was only seven months old then, and my older son was three years old.
“I remember how I cried the first day I went to sleep in that small shared room at VK hostels at the University of Limpopo, asking myself if the decision I made was the right one,” she said.
She left her stable R20,000 salary to live on a monthly stipend of R1,000. She initially thought she was not going to manage the transition.
After she was accepted by the university, reality set in and she wrestled with the idea of not continuing her studies after learning that the Limpopo department of health was no longer offering bursaries. However, her husband encouraged her to proceed.
Teffo, from Mohlonong village in GaMashashane Limpopo, who now lives in Boyne in Polokwane, said she was fortunate that the university campus wasn't far from her home.
“It was easy for me to go home every Friday and be with my family and carry out some of the household chores. This helped me emotionally, and it gave me the strength to continue. Going home every weekend and seeing my family reminded me to always study harder because I could not just leave them at home to play at school,” she said.
Teffo initially graduated from the University of Limpopo, Medunsa Campus, now Sefako Makgatho University, where she obtained a Bachelor of Occupational Therapy in 2014.
She subsequently worked at Dilokong Hospital in Burgersfort in 2015 and moved to Letaba Hospital in Tzaneen a year later until 2018, when she resigned and went back to school.
She credited her husband, siblings and her in-laws, who held her hand throughout her academic journey.
“My in-laws took great care of my sons. My aunt-in-law had to sacrifice her job to stay home so that she could take care of my sons full time.
“My husband has been holding my hand throughout this journey, and he is the one person who knows how many nights and days I cried because of failing to meet all the demands that life has thrown my way,” she said.
She recently graduated from the University of Limpopo with a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBChB).
She joined a mentorship programme in 2020 with the Centre of Academic Excellence at the university, which she continues with today.
Through this programme, she taught students at lower levels on various topics, and received several accolades, including top of her class for her MBChB.
This prompted her to hold the first awards ceremony for students in the school of medicine earlier this month, just two days before her graduation ceremony.
She said her initiative was supported by the university, and she found sponsors for the event and raised R22,000, which was awarded as cash prizes to students.
She believes she wouldn't have achieved so much if it was not for her husband's support.
“When I thought of giving up on mentorship, he made sure I remembered why I chose to be a mentor in the first place. On those days when I felt like a failure for not getting the marks that I wanted in the exams, he reminded me how proud he was of me.
“A lot of people ask me, how did you manage to be a wife, a mother, a student, a mentor and a businesswoman and still manage to come out top in medicine ... the answer is my husband,” she said.
Medicine had always been close to her heart, but that dream was delayed when she enrolled for a four-year degree to help her parents and siblings financially.
When she initially enrolled for B.Occ.Ther, she intended to help her family , but when her father died in 2013 and her mother the year after, she was heartbroken.
Teffo always wanted to be a doctor, a dream which took her 14 years to fulfil. She believes that had she listened to her teachers in high school and applied to universities in time, she would have gone straight to medical school.
“I feel more effort, more energy, more emphasis and more funds need to be put into career guidance.
“It was through this lack of guidance that I joined the mentorship programme. Extending help and guidance to students has been closest to my heart because I realised that the main thing that many lack is guidance and more guidance,” she said.
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