When Professor Mashiko Setshedi chose medicine over law many years ago, she thought she knew what lay ahead. She envisioned a quiet, dedicated career, serving her patients with distinction behind closed doors—diagnosing, treating, and guiding them back to health. It seemed the perfect setup for a private doctor-patient relationship.
However, life had different plans. Much like her decision to specialize in gastroenterology—the study of the digestive system and its disorders—academic medicine found her rather than the other way around. Since joining the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Faculty of Health Sciences nearly two decades ago, her career has evolved far beyond the simple doctor-patient dynamic. It has expanded to include teaching, learning (from students, peers, and patients alike), research, and publishing in leading medical journals.
Professor Setshedi has excelled in every role, blazing a trail in the process. On July 1, she took the helm as chair and head of UCT’s Department of Medicine—a well-deserved milestone in what has been an unexpected yet profoundly rewarding journey.
“I always say that if I had known that medicine, particularly academic medicine, involved so much teaching and talking—basically putting yourself out there—I probably wouldn’t have done it. I always thought medicine would just be me, the patient, and four walls,” she admitted with a laugh.
Choosing Medicine It’s hard to imagine that, at the time of her mock matric exams, the now-successful and award-winning clinician was still unsure of what she wanted to study. After some deliberation, she decided on medicine and enrolled at the then-University of Natal (now the University of KwaZulu-Natal) in Durban to pursue a Bachelor’s in Medicine and Surgery.
“I don’t remember ever saying, ‘I want to be a doctor.’ It just sort of happened, although my mother insists that when my siblings and I played as children, I always took on the role of the doctor,” she recalled. “But because medicine was one of those traditional professions kids went into, I chose it. Looking back, I say medicine chose me.”
Similarly, gastroenterology found her rather than the other way around. After qualifying as a specialist, Setshedi initially planned to focus on endocrinology, even accepting a registrar position at King Edward Hospital in Durban. But when she agreed to cover for a colleague on maternity leave, a fellow registrar in gastroenterology, she unexpectedly discovered a new passion.
“I didn’t know what to expect in gastroenterology, but I fell completely in love. I kept asking myself, ‘Where has gastroenterology been all my life? This is so cool!’ As a frustrated surgeon, performing endoscopic procedures gave me the opportunity to work with my hands, and that’s what I found exciting. I didn’t plan it, but I loved it,” she said.
However, life had different plans. Much like her decision to specialize in gastroenterology—the study of the digestive system and its disorders—academic medicine found her rather than the other way around. Since joining the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Faculty of Health Sciences nearly two decades ago, her career has evolved far beyond the simple doctor-patient dynamic. It has expanded to include teaching, learning (from students, peers, and patients alike), research, and publishing in leading medical journals.
Professor Setshedi has excelled in every role, blazing a trail in the process. On July 1, she took the helm as chair and head of UCT’s Department of Medicine—a well-deserved milestone in what has been an unexpected yet profoundly rewarding journey.
“I always say that if I had known that medicine, particularly academic medicine, involved so much teaching and talking—basically putting yourself out there—I probably wouldn’t have done it. I always thought medicine would just be me, the patient, and four walls,” she admitted with a laugh.
Choosing Medicine It’s hard to imagine that, at the time of her mock matric exams, the now-successful and award-winning clinician was still unsure of what she wanted to study. After some deliberation, she decided on medicine and enrolled at the then-University of Natal (now the University of KwaZulu-Natal) in Durban to pursue a Bachelor’s in Medicine and Surgery.
“I don’t remember ever saying, ‘I want to be a doctor.’ It just sort of happened, although my mother insists that when my siblings and I played as children, I always took on the role of the doctor,” she recalled. “But because medicine was one of those traditional professions kids went into, I chose it. Looking back, I say medicine chose me.”
Similarly, gastroenterology found her rather than the other way around. After qualifying as a specialist, Setshedi initially planned to focus on endocrinology, even accepting a registrar position at King Edward Hospital in Durban. But when she agreed to cover for a colleague on maternity leave, a fellow registrar in gastroenterology, she unexpectedly discovered a new passion.
“I didn’t know what to expect in gastroenterology, but I fell completely in love. I kept asking myself, ‘Where has gastroenterology been all my life? This is so cool!’ As a frustrated surgeon, performing endoscopic procedures gave me the opportunity to work with my hands, and that’s what I found exciting. I didn’t plan it, but I loved it,” she said.
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