Despite the challenges of working in a healthcare system in crisis, Kudzai Kanyepi has resisted the temptation to move abroad
W
hen Dr Kudzai Kanyepi qualified as Zimbabwe’s first female cardiothoracic surgeon four years ago, she was filled with pride and anticipation after succeeding in an area long dominated by men. She was only the 12th woman in Africa to qualify in the field – four more have joined her since.
Even now, with 100 operations under her belt, the reality of working in a role in which she confronts misogyny and discrimination daily has not dented Kanyepi’s love of the surgical theatre.
In South Africa, where she trained as a heart surgeon, she had been among other women medics , but when she returned home to Zimbabwe, she joined a tiny group of just four other cardiothoracic surgeons in the country, all of whom were male.
