Kiana Pillay has made herself proud as she will be graduating with her Bachelor of Health Sciences in Medical Orthotics and Prosthetics with Cum Laude at the Durban University of Technology (DUT) 2024 Spring Graduation ceremony. It will take place at the Durban Exhibition Centre on Thursday, 19 September 2024.

The young damsel born in Estcourt, KwaZulu-Natal, has always been passionate about people and crafts and which is what orthotics and prosthetics is all about. Her aim is to branch into silicone prosthetics.

Expressing her excitement, Pillay said: “I am very proud of myself. I did not expect to be graduating with Cum Laude and it feels amazing. My family is very proud of me as well and I am so looking forward to the graduation,’’ said Pillay.

Her journey at DUT has been far from easy as she began her studies in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic and she believes that it brought its own set of challenges.

However, the 22-year-old claimed that one of the DUT ENVISION2030 Living Values and Principles assisted her to overcome the hurdles in her academic journey.

“The value that stands out most to me is integrity. As a medical student, integrity is important because it ensures that I always act ethically and maintain trust with my patients. The principle that would be most important to me is compassion. It allows me to understand and connect with my patients on a different level,’’ said Pillay.

She also shared her advice to first-year students in a similar field, assuring them to that this is great course to explore.

“It is an amazing career choice, there is so much potential to help people. However, there is little growth in South Africa due to the high number of practitioners and it makes it very difficult to progress. So, if this is something you want to peruse then do it in a different country,’’ concluded Pillay.

Pictured: Kiana Pillay

Vukani Langa