Meet Remarkable Profmed Member Dr Shamin Mahabeer | Your Life Experiences Should Define Your Career

Change expands expertise and professional development

“Be willing to embrace change,” she says. “They allow personal and professional growth when you are on the cusp of a career.”

This mindset changes the core experience. A locum position may be temporary, but the work experience is valuable. Each new practice, hospital and healthcare team offers another opportunity to expand clinical skills, understand different working environments and to learn from colleagues. You develop clarity on how to define your judgement as a doctor.

Dr Mahabeer trained as a chemical pathologist in South Africa and built an academic career, teaching and conducting research. She contributed to the early faculty restructure of medical education during the country’s transition to democracy. Her professional life had a clear pathway before she relocated to New Zealand with her husband and two young children.

Major changes can throw unexpected curve balls and careers need to morph to accommodate new circumstances. She was offered a full-time pathology position, but the process of adapting to a new country without family support did not satisfy the demands of her young family. She decided to move from pathology, a non-clinical discipline to family medicine, which facilitated working during school hours.

 

Expand your repertoire as you adjust and acclimatise 

This required the development of a new skillset. Instead of dwelling on her established career as a pathologist, she immersed herself in the new professional environment. She completed a fellowship in family medicine, adding a second medical specialty to her qualifications. She enjoyed the return to clinical practice and her pathology experience assisted her in family medicine. Dealing with patients in a new country expanded her knowledge of the ethos and culture of New Zealand.

 

Be constantly curious and unconventional

Early in her career, Dr M completed a diploma in marketing management. This exposed her to decision makers in the corporate and financial world. She is an avid reader and was exposed to medico-legal dilemmas’ during her training in family medicine. This piqued her interest, and she began studying law part time at the University of Auckland whilst working as a locum at a practice and raising her children. She was in law school for three years before returning to South Africa when her father became ill. None of those experiences sat neatly within a conventional pathology career. All of them contributed to the professional she became.

“It was so exciting, as my interactions with law students, lecturers and the new academic environment improved and expanded my critical thinking in a novel way.”

 

Use uncertainty to master new challenges

Dr Mahabeer emphasises a key quality when she contemplates professional development: the ability to pivot. Her career demanded it when she moved between countries and changed medical disciplines. It was also required when she was an academic in South Africa. The medical faculty had to reconsider how it taught an increasingly diverse generation of students during the fledgling years of democracy. She began law studies in her late 30s because of innate curiosity and a desire to expand her knowledge. Every experience reinforced that it is wiser to embrace change than to yearn for familiar comfort zones.

“Be flexible and nimble. Remain alert to what each experience can teach you. Consider how this may lead to new opportunities. These are defining characteristics of the successful professional cohort,” she says.

Locum work can develop that capacity precisely. Moving between different environments demands that a doctor becomes adept at communicating with unfamiliar teams, understanding new systems, technology and treating patients from different backgrounds. Instead of measuring this period solely against the permanent role you are striving for, Dr Mahabeer’s advice is to focus on how these new skills contribute to your final professional development.

A career that continues to evolve also requires support that can adapt with it. Profmed understands that a young doctor’s journey may include community service, locum work, postgraduate study, international experience, private practice and periods when personal responsibilities reshape professional plans. Its medical aid options are designed to support professionals as their careers and healthcare needs change over time.

 

Exposure to new environments facilitates the development of fresh perspectives

Medical school is gruelling, and the practice of medicine can be consuming.  She believes that young professionals benefit from being creative, developing hobbies and socialising with individuals outside their sphere. This allows the development of an inherent sense of self and identity.

Some of her interests include painting, gardening, yoga, writing and history. She has studied marketing and law, written medical articles, books and explored her family heritage through historical research and storytelling. She also credits relationships with artists and writers with expanding the way she thinks professionally.

“Artists and authors are extremely generous in sharing their craft, perspectives and creative skills. My interaction with them expanded my horizons, mindset and enhanced my professional growth,” she says.

There is a practical lesson in this for someone whose career feels stalled. Embrace new hobbies, attend workshops and enhance your creative skills. Development of these elements of your persona can continue whilst you wait for a permanent position. Interests beyond medicine will enhance your medical skills in intangible ways when you tackle the next professional opportunity.

 

Do not let uncertainty diminish your confidence

Dr Mahabeer speaks directly to the emotional reality of beginning a professional career without the security you expected. “Fight your own insecurities,” she says. “Uncertain career prospects should not diminish your sense of self-belief. Remain anchored.”

Her career suggests a more timeous measure of success. At various stages, she has been a pathologist, academic, family medicine practitioner and a university student again. She has relocated between countries, changed disciplines and pursued interests far outside the boundaries of medicine.

She contemplates a simple question at the end of each day: “What new challenge did you embrace today, and how did it contribute to your knowledge?”

For a young doctor, solely focused on career progression this attitude offers an alternative way to measure progress. The permanent post remains an important goal. Using the time wisely in the interim can add meaning and happiness to your life and help you attain balance in the career that follows.

Dr Mahabeer concludes “Life is exciting, and the world offers so many opportunities. Engage with others within and outside your professional sphere. Grow, embrace change, listen to alternate opinions and learn to compromise. Explore that spark of interest within yourself. Be happy during your professional journey because you cannot predict where your career may lead you. With a positive mindset, life will afford you infinite possibilities.”

 

Medical cover that moves with your career

Your career may take you from locum shifts to specialist training, private practice, international opportunities or a well-earned sabbatical. Profmed is a proudly South African medical aid created for professionals, with flexible options, comprehensive hospital cover, mental health support, preventative screening and benefits designed to support you through every stage of your career.

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