After 47 years, Dr Rian Swart has decided to hang up his stethoscope for good.

Born in Amersfoort, he attended school at Piet Retief Primary School and matriculated at Ermelo High School in 1959.

In high school he contemplated becoming an architect, an engineer or a doctor, and needless to say he decided on the latter.

He studied at the University of Pretoria where he graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degree in 1965.

It was at the university hospital in Pretoria where he did his intern year, until his professor sent him to Kroonstad, Freestate, to gain some experience in surgery.

“When in Kroonstad, I joined a private practice where there was a very good general practitioner and surgeon.

“I was there for six years and the he mentored and taught me everything I know,” he said.

Dr Swart looked down the medical abyss for other study opportunities and decided to try his hand at obtaining a Master of General Practice degree, which he successfully obtained.

In 1973 his father died and shortly thereafter, his wife’s father died too.

Both of their mothers lived in Amersfoort so they felt that the obvious thing for them to do was to return home.

Fortunately there was an opening at a practice, and little did he know he would put down roots and spend the next 47 years of his life there.

“I came here as a young doctor and worked very hard.

“Doctors would retire, one after the other, so I had to bring in new partners,” he said.

In his time as a doctor he has delivered more than 4 000 babies and has carried out numerous operations.

He also became a qualified cosmetic surgeon around 1978 and 1979.

“Cosmetic surgery is something I really enjoyed,” he said.

He said he never neglected to pray before an operation – he prayed for his patients and for the Lord to give him wisdom and guidance.

He said, during an operation, you would often find yourself in a situation where there was something that was not mentioned in the medical books – something unexpected.

“I would then turn to the Lord and ask for His guidance,” he said.

But there were also challenging times where he had to come to terms with deaths of his patients.

“You can sometimes feel death standing on the other side of the bed, but you persevere and just do the best you can,” Dr Swart said.

According to him, his beliefs play a big role in his life.

“I would at times where medicine just didn’t have the desired effect to cure a patient, pray for them and then Jesus would step in and miraculously heal them,” he said.

Read the complete article in the Highvelder Newspaper.