Fatima Faruk earns Cum Laude and the Dean’s Merit Award, and will be graduating with her Bachelor of Technology (BTech) in Clinical Technology at the Durban University of Technology’s (DUT’s) Virtual Graduation ceremony on Wednesday, 10 June 2020 at 12pm.

The talkative and bubbly 21-year-old lass, who is specialising in Cardiovascular Perfusion, said she was speechless. “I was tearful, as it is ironical and by the mercy of God, that this tedious and bitter journey over the latter two years could bear such sweet fruit. I feel honoured and humbled to have received a Cum Laude and Dean’s Merit award for both my National Diploma and Bachelor of Technology Degree. Receiving this award for the second time is just the cherry on top, by the mercy of God and my parents’ prayers,” she said.

Faruk is not alone in her academic journey, her elder sister, Wazifa Faruk, also graduates with her Bachelor of Technology Degree in Diagnostic Radiography, at DUT’s 2020 Virtual Graduation ceremony on Wednesday, 10 June 2020.

“From our years of being teenagers, I have always admired her sense of independence and her excellent work ethic and always strived to be a good role model to our younger sister, as she was to me,” she said.

Also, coming from somewhat a conservative family, her parents were excited and proud as well as unregretful for giving her the freedom to leave home and study. “They felt like the trust between us has been respected and honoured as I did not abuse my freedom and this award is a result of that,” she said happily.

When asked what prompted her to study such a field, she said that she would often get bored at home and accompanied her late grandmother to hospital for her check-ups. Also, having an over-curious mind is what led to her to discovering this intriguing field of study.

Her student years had come with some challenges, mainly being that for her first two years she travelled from Pietermaritzburg to Durban daily.

“Trying to find ample time between leaving home as early as 04h30 am and returning at sometimes 20h30 meant burning the midnight oil regularly was the only option in yielding good results. Re-locating to Cape Town for the WIL years had been a tremendous experience, from psycho-social factors in the work environment to trying to find a balance between ‘working’, studying and mothering myself,” she said.

Faruk also said that one of the toughest parts was constantly being misunderstood. “During clinical training (Work Integrated Learning), this was discouraging, as many important knowledge seeking questions were viewed as undermining the individuals in training positions. On the reciprocal end, this instills fear in students, preventing them from asking questions to acquire a comprehensive understanding of concepts,” she stressed.

However, she does recall the fun parts like visiting her patients post-operatively, irrespective of how minute her role might have been seen, it gave her heart some type of unexplained satisfaction knowing that she participated in helping save or better someone else’s life.

“Other fun moments included eating Nando’s with my mentor, Mr S Shezi ( who was a previous DUT graduate class of 2012). He has been a major support for me throughout this process from teaching me how to take a taxi to practically training me at work, and I am grateful,” she added.

Talking further on her future career, Faruk said that she follows a particular Hadith (Islamic Teachings) that states: Seek knowledge from the cradle to grave (Prophet Muhammed S.A.W.).

“For an individual in the medical field, I believe, that when the student within us becomes dormant, we somewhat kill our enquiring mind, which is what drives our thirst for knowledge and this impacts negatively on our abilities to provide the utmost best patient care possible! So, in conjunction with my employment, I have every intention to further my studies,” she said happily.

Faruk said her WIL journey began on 01 January 2018 at Groote Schuur and Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital and ended in October 2019. She has begun her new job as a Production Cardiovascular Perfusionist at Tygerberg Hospital in November 2019.

“Being a cardiovascular perfusionist, means that I am responsible for the operation of extracorporeal circulation equipment during any medical procedure in which it is necessary to artificially support or temporarily replace a patient’s Cardiac, circulatory or respiratory functions, such as in open-heart surgery or other heart procedures and in doing so, maintaining safe patient metabolic and physiological states,” she stressed.

Her goal is to hopefully once she has gained substantial experience, help and motivate the youngsters in the field of Cardiovascular Perfusion. “I would continue to be ambitious in identifying the best possible patient care strategies associated to Cardiopulmonary Bypass(CPB). Furthermore, I would always work on bettering myself and keeping myself up to date practically and theoretically,” she said.

Faruk said that this would have been a very special graduation for her parents, since both her elder sister and her were to graduate with their BTech Degrees. “However, we are all understanding of the situation that we are currently faced with and believe that safety comes first. Thus, we are grateful that DUT has found a way to recognise our achievement with this Virtual Graduation despite the pandemic,” she said.

Pictured: Fatima Faruk

Pictured: Wazifa Faruk

Waheeda Peters