I live in Johannesburg North. I studied Medical Orthotics and Prosthetics at Walter Sisulu University (WSU), South Africa, through a cooperation agreement between WSU and Tshwane University of Technology (TUT). I graduated in 2021.
I am currently self-employed and run my own medical practice, Eyethu Prosthetics and Orthotics Inc.
What do you claim is your speciality — your O&P passion?
As much as I currently predominantly practise Orthotics, I have figured out that I am increasingly drawn towards the prosthetic component of the profession. I haven’t necessarily defined a specific niche or speciality within prosthetics yet, but I know that this is an area I would like to explore more deeply.
For me, prosthetics is about much more than replacing a lost limb or body part. It creates an opportunity for people to live meaningful and fulfilling lives—to perform their activities of daily living independently, regain their confidence and dignity, improve their quality of life, and participate more fully in broader society without their physical impairment becoming a limitation.
That human impact is what particularly attracts me to prosthetics.
What do you like most about practising O&P?
What I like most is the impact our work has on our patients’ lives and the meaningful changes it can bring to individuals, families and society.
I remember a time when my group mates and I designed a below-knee prosthesis for the first time for a diabetic patient while we were still at university. Seeing her husband become emotional, cry and thank us for what we had done was a very powerful moment for me. It made me fall in love with the profession even more.
That experience made me appreciate that what we do is not simply about designing and manufacturing a device. There is a person, a family and an entire life behind every intervention.
For me, that is the beauty of O&P—the opportunity to use our knowledge and skills to make a tangible difference in someone’s life.
What frustrates you about O&P?
I’ll answer this from a South African context.
One of my biggest frustrations is the way the profession is positioned within the broader healthcare system. I believe Medical Orthotics and Prosthetics needs to be better integrated with other disciplines under the broader umbrella of Rehabilitation Medicine, rather than being treated as a separate entity from the rest of rehabilitation.
I am also concerned about the high unemployment among competent Medical Orthotists and Prosthetists, particularly when there is an evident need for their services within our society.
It is difficult to reconcile having qualified professionals who are unemployed while there are still patients who require O&P services and face barriers to accessing them.
For me, this is not only an employment issue. It is also a question about how we structure rehabilitation services, how we utilise the skills available within the profession, and ultimately how we improve access to care for the people who need it.
What is your greatest patient story in O&P?
Honestly, it has to be the patient I saw walking with a prosthesis that my group mates and I had made while I was in my second year at university.
At the time, we were still students learning the fundamentals of the profession. But seeing an actual patient walk with something that we had designed and made was an experience that stayed with me.
It was one of those moments where the theory we were learning in the classroom suddenly became real.
It wasn’t just a prosthesis anymore. It represented someone’s ability to move, participate and regain a degree of independence.
That experience has remained one of my most memorable moments in O&P and played a role in shaping how I view the profession today.
How do you build rapport with patients in your care?
For me, it starts with active listening.
Patients are the primary stakeholders in their rehabilitation journey, so I believe they should have a meaningful voice in the process. I try to understand who they are, what matters to them, what they want to achieve and how their condition affects their everyday lives.
I allow the patient to take the lead in expressing their needs, while using my clinical knowledge and professional responsibility to ensure that we arrive at the most appropriate intervention possible.
I don’t believe rehabilitation should simply be something that is done to a patient. It should be something that we work through with the patient.
Ultimately, I build rapport by making patients feel heard, respected, understood and involved in decisions concerning their own care.