SAfrican Indian becomes first to get double medical degrees

Updated on: Friday, December 18, 2009

Johannesburg: A South African Indian medical student has scored an academic first by graduating at the top of his class with two simultaneous degrees at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban.

Hailing from a family of doctors and scientists, 22-year-old Vivek Naranbhai decided that a plain doctor's degree was just not stimulating enough. So he signed up for a simultaneous honours degree in medical microbiology, something that is very rarely permitted.

Now Naranbhai wishes to complete his master's degree in immunology next year.
Naranbhai's achievements have been lauded as setting an example for future students by a senior researcher and lecturer at the university, Dr William Carr, who said, "Vivek has shown that it is possible for a student to combine studies of clinical medicine and research. This is critical for developing a new generation of medical scientists."

Meanwhile, the Indian student said "To be an effective doctor, I believe that one also has to be a good scientist," adding that he hoped to continue his research in order to transform the healthcare system in South Africa, which has one of the worst track records of HIV/AIDS treatment in the world.

Naranbhai also plans to concentrate on medicine research in the rest of the developing world, specialising in paediatric infectious diseases. His mentors have been South Africa's leading HIV/AIDS researchers, Professors Salim and Quraisha Abdool Karim.

SAfrican Indian becomes first to get double medical degrees

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