Medic graduate speaks of journey

"I am raising leaders, not followers" says the father of a young medical doctor recently graduated from the University of Cape Town (UCT).

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For Luxolo Mdolo these words had a powerful effect, laying the foundations of a remarkable journey for him

"These words influenced me not just to be an observer in life, “but an active participant in measures to improve the quality of life of our people. At the heart of true leadership lies a deep desire to serve others, something that transcends one’s innate sense of self-preservation." And serve he did, both in the classroom and outside it.

Mdolo, who received his Bachelor of Medicine and of Surgery (MBChB) at UCT’s autumn 2025 ceremony in the Sarah Baartman Hall, is now a first-year medical intern at the Grey’s Hospital complex in Pietermaritzburg.

This young achiever’s journey was anything but ordinary. In his third year, he enrolled in UCT’s rigorous intercalated programme, completing a BSc in Molecular Medicine alongside his MBChB. “In 2021, I took a year off my medical degree to pursue an honours in neuroscience and physiology,” he explained. “I did this under the amazing supervision of Dr Rachael Dangarembizi, where I was investigating the neurological immune effects of Cryptococcus neoformans in mice brains, with the hope that it will improve the current management of this rampant fungal infection on the African continent.”