​As part of its 60th anniversary celebrations, the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences is introducing 60 future healthcare professionals who are currently in their first year. Meet Patsy Oosthuizen.

Patricia Oosthuizen can't cook or bake. "I manage to burn just about everything!," she jokes. But this flaw can be forgiven in the light of her other talents. Last year she achieved eight distinctions as matriculant at Riverdale’s Langenhoven High School and says she keeps up with her work by spending at least two to three hours a day studying. She also plays hockey and soccer and makes time to go for frequent runs to stay fit. Who has time to worry about culinary skills!

Patsy, as everyone calls her, can’t think of anything else she wants to do besides being a doctor. And her genes may be to blame for it: both mom Emma and dad Christiaan studied medicine at Stellenbosch Univerisity. Now she's following in their footsteps as a first year MBChb-student.

For Patsy, the purpose of life is being able to mean something to others while simultaneously enjoying it. After she qualifies as a doctor, she would like to work with Doctors without Borders (MSF) to do just that. "Then I’d like to move to the countryside and start a family."

• If you could write a message on a billboard on the highway, what would it say? "Today is just a paragraph. It’s not your whole story."
• What is the difference between being good and being great? “The willingness to work harder than anyone else around you.”
• Favourite movie character? “Sherlock Holmes. He’s eccentric and doesn’t try to be something he’s not. And he does his detective work because he’s interested in it and enjoys helping people, not because he gets paid to do it."
• What’s your best trait according to your parents? “I keep things neat and orderly."