Yvonne recalls starting out as a medical student and the challenges she had to overcome. Five years ago, she didn’t speak English, the main teaching medium at university. “Other medical students thought I was stupid,” she recalls. But thanks to UYDF mentoring rural students throughout their studies, she earned her five-year medical degree in the minimum time and returned home to work at Mosvold Hospital, where she worked from 2016 to 2019. She is currently a Registrar in Paediatrics at Doris Nginza Hospital in Gqeberha.
"Rural youth are poorly equipped for university in both an academic and social sense," says Dr Ross. "So, all new students are allocated a mentor who they have to meet with once a month for academic and social support," says Dr Ross.