"When 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. I was first treated with scepticism, she says. Misogyny was not always said outright, but people had doubts."
"Kanyepi grew up in Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, and says she was lucky that her mother was able to send her to some of the city's best schools. But it was a fluke that led her to turn to medicine. At the National University of Science and Technology in Bulawayo, she enrolled to study electronic engineering. But that class was full and the university could only accommodate her in medical classes."
Dr Kudzai Kanyepi qualified as Zimbabwe's first female cardiothoracic surgeon and was the 12th woman in Africa in the field, with four more joining since. She has performed about 100 operations yet faces daily misogyny and discrimination while remaining devoted to the surgical theatre. Training in South Africa provided exposure to other women medics, but returning to Zimbabwe placed her among four male cardiothoracic surgeons and widespread scepticism. She needed to work significantly harder than male colleagues to prove her competence. Her path to medicine began by chance when an engineering class was full, prompting transfer to medical study and later specialised cardiac training in Durban.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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