A warm embrace into medicine
Durban - Dr Tivana Chellan is not only one of the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s top medical students, she’s also a poet whose works hang on the institution’s walls.
Graduating cum laude, she was surprised at her graduation ceremony when she got a big hug from the dean.
Professor Ncoza Dlova, an internationally acclaimed dermatologist specialising in alopecia in women, and head of the School of Clinical Medicine, has Chellan’s poem “Dermatology” hanging on the wall of her rooms in King Edward VIII Hospital.
Poetry has always been a release for Chellan: “My grandfather wrote poetry, my mom’s eldest brother and my mom wrote poetry.”
She tells how, inspired after her dermatology exam, she had written the poem. The dean had liked it and encouraged her to write more.
“I was so inspired and so in love with medicine, I wanted to write about it, what I call my medical anthology. I also write about women or society, and as a Sai devotee, I have a spiritual anthology.” She hopes to soon have her poems published.
“I chose medicine as I felt it would allow me to fulfil my curiosity on the human body and to assist people complaining of really chronic problems. I like the idea of preventative medicine,” she says.
“My goal and passion is to specialise in public health and health advocacy work. Here you can still work with the community while being an academic and researching issues that will have real impact in the community,” she says.
Her health advocacy came to the fore during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“At the time I was national president of the SA Medical Students Association. We formed a Covid youth response team to tackle misinformation and empower rural areas. We worked at community level looking at mental health and gender-based violence at the same time. That inspired me to be involved in the community. To get involved with the real stuff,” she said.
Chellan grew up in oThongathi and went to school at Tongaat Secondary School. “My source of motivation has been my spiritually and my simple philosophy – love all, serve all. Service to mankind is service to God.”
At school she was director of Rotary’s Interact Club involved with outreach programmes for senior citizens, disabled children, or green initiatives. She counts Ela Gandhi as a mentor. “I was working with her at school and a lot of inspiration has come from that,” she says.
When she’s not writing poetry, studying or working in the community, the daredevil in her comes out. “Last year I climbed the roof of my home and put a boa constrictor around my neck. I got into a shark tank three weeks ago. It was an exhilarating experience immersing yourself in nature. It was so beautiful. I also hope to go skydiving soon. Part of my purpose is to have fun and do crazy things as well,” she says.
“I love nature and animals and my passion is photography. When I grow up I can be a professional photographer,” she jokes.
The Independent on Saturday