Alumna, Dr Shrishti Maharaj shares her journey to success and credits her former place of study, the Durban University of Technology (DUT) as playing an influential role in preparing her for life after university.
“During my time at DUT, I had been a student, intern, researcher, mentor, tutor and peer advisor to younger students. All these roles prepared me for working and communicating with a variety of different people, which is an important skill in healthcare. It has also given me the grit and willpower necessary for opening and running a business in the post-COVID climate, which was no easy task,” she commented proudly.
The charismatic Dr Maharaj is a qualified Doctor of Chiropractic, with a permit to practice in both the United Kingdom and South Africa, as well as an MBA candidate. As a DUT alumna, she had spent seven years of her life being shaped and moulded for the world post-varsity.
Since she had graduated in 2021 with her Master’s degree in Chiropractic studies, she has become a business owner by opening and running her own Chiropractic practice in Bellair. Durban. She is also currently pursuing her Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree, to further enhance her knowledge in relation to business management.
“During my Master’s degree, I was also the recipient of numerous achievements such as the Golden Key award, the chiropractic clinic excellence award and the Gradstar Top 100 student in South Africa award in 2020 – all of which showed me the payoff related to hard work in academia. As a result, I have pushed myself after university to become a certified Chiropractic practitioner in the UK by passing extremely difficult board exams,” she added.
Dr Maharaj has also developed a keen interest in business management and information systems through the pursuit of her MBA. This has resulted in her pursuing and completing the McKinsey Forward program for young leaders in Africa and the Middle East. She also recently passed her Amazon Web Services (AWS) exams to become a certified Cloud practitioner.
“Furthermore, my interest in information systems led me to receive a fully paid study opportunity to become a software engineer in 2023. Through the amalgamation of healthcare, business and IT, I wish to improve the healthcare systems in our public health sector in the future,” she commented.
For the dynamic go-getter, she believes that learning is a continuous process and one should never stop.
Her advice to future DUT Chiropractic students is to know who one is and what is their interest.
“Pursuing knowledge on a subject that’s important to you, can make learning and studying much easier. Remember: Always make it your goal to exceed your own expectations. You will come to find that it can be an extremely positive and addictive experience,” expressed Dr Maharaj.
Going forward, she has a lot of studying ahead of her in this year, 2023 along with being a business owner and a Doctor of Chiropractic.
“Although it may seem overwhelming at first glance, I believe that all limits are self-imposed. Therefore, anything you put your mind to, you can achieve,” she said.
Pictured: Alumna, Dr Shrishti Maharaj.
Waheeda Peters
