Former Hoedspruit local achieves tremendous academic success abroad

A well-known young man, formerly from Hoedspruit, has received a medical doctor’s degree in Latvia, Europe, making him the first South African to do so.

Markus van Niekerk attended Maragon School in Pretoria since 2013 and matriculated in 2016. After finishing his high school career, he was accepted into both the University of Pretoria and the University of Stellenbosch, but not for his preferred study field, medicine.

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To pursue his medical degree, Van Niekerk applied at Riga Stradins University (RSU) in Latvia (rated among the 1 000 top universities worldwide) and was the first and only South African who studied at the institution for his first two years.

“He was the pioneer paving the way for the next South African students,” his mother, Zizzilee van Niekerk, said.

Markus applied to RSU in October 2016, and on January 21, 2017, he received the email informing him he was accepted. “On February 4, we were already in Riga for registration and student orientation,” Zizzilee said. She said the most challenging part for her as a mother was to say goodbye to him outside his hotel. “We both sobbed, my heart dangling on a string, me leaving him behind in a country that neither of us knew.”

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His tuition fees posed a financial challenge to his family. Zizzilee said at times they did not know how they were going to make it happen. “God provided for us sufficiently every step of the way,” she said. Despite his mother’s initial worries and scepticism, Markus excelled in Riga. “He participated in a few 21.5km marathons, wearing the South African flag, running to make a statement against farm murders back home,” Zizzilee said.

He also played hockey for the RSU team, and is fluent in German.

Floris Kant and Anne van Doren, both dentistry students from the Netherlands, already in higher semesters, were looking for a flat mate when Markus had just arrived in Latvia. “This was the beginning of a friendship that is a brother- and sisterhood today,” Zizzilee said. Kant and Van Doren became his family away from home, she said, and until this day, they are still acquainted.

On the academic front, besides studying in a difficult field, Markus was chosen to serve on the Student Union and Academic Assembly of the University, was a board member of the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Society, and a member of Radiology and Pediatric Societies. Markus was aslo the semester leader of 122 medicine students at the university for 6 years of his studies.

Markus did electives in the oncology department of the St Antonius Hospital in the Netherlands, as well as at the emergency care department in the Meander Medisch Centrum, also in this country. He also worked at South African hospitals, including the Steve Biko Academic Hospital and Tembisa Hospital in Gauteng.

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This remarkable young man not only successfully passed his state medical exam on January 19, but more so, he passed it cum laude, and furthermore, presented his thesis at a congress in the Netherlands on February 16, and will also participate in Berlin and Singapore medical congresses amongst others worldwide.

Markus has been offered numerous positions in Germany and the Netherlands and the opportunity to continue his studies while specialising, but would like to return to South Africa after completing his further studies.

Details on the Riga Stradins University: https://medicalstudieseurope.co.za/