The Voice Online - Botswana

By Innocent Tshukudu
While the stiff job market remains a challenge for jobless graduates who are roaming the streets, opportunities still exist in other sectors especially the health services.This week we feature Dr Kethamile Mabaila of Agape Dental Clinic as she relates her career success story.Mabaila completed her Tirelo Sechaba (national service) in 1991 before she was admitted at the University of Botswana where she enrolled for a six months Pre-Entry Science Course (PESC) which was a pre-requisite for any science course.
“PESC was not an easy ride more so that I had been out of school for a year but because I was determined to become a doctor as I had always wished when I was growing up I made sure I worked hard. I have to note that for one to qualify for PESC you had to have been doing Pure Sciences at senior secondary school. We were selected for PESC on the basis of our good performance on those science subjects which were Pure Chemistry, Physics, Biology and Mathematics.
After passing PESC I proceeded to year 1 and 2 of BSC (Bachelor of Science) still at the University of Botswana. This still did not qualify you to pursue your dream career, one had to pass especially year 1 because the results of year 1 were the ones the Ministry of Education used to seek admission for you in institutions abroad as most of science related courses, like dentistry, medicine and others were done abroad. This though did mean that after passing your first year you could relax. You still needed to work hard, as we normally joked and said you were now defending your air ticket. Meaning that if you failed you would not proceed overseas,” she said.
After excelling in the first and second year at UB, Mabaila was admitted at the   Virginia Commonwealth University in the USA. When she moved to the States in 1994, Mabaila had thought she would start her dental studies right away only to discover that she still had to earn a place in a dental school. She however was not perturbed and after completing the two years of undergraduate studies, which combined with credits from the UB, she obtained a Bachelor of Science degree majoring in Chemistry.
 “One had to then take an exam which qualified you for a place in a dental school. After passing that exam I applied to two dental schools. I was offered a place at both of them but chose to go to University of Maryland at Baltimore College of Dentistry in 1996.”
Mabaila says focus and dedication were key to her success and she came back home on 27 May 2000 the day after her graduation.
“I got a job immediately when I arrived from the States in one of the Government referral hospitals but took a month of rest after a hectic life of dental school and also to have time with my family.
“I worked for the Government from 2000 to 2005 after which I bought a private dental clinic in Gaborone, where I am currently based.”
Mabaila says there are still employment opportunities both in government and private sectors. She reckons there are approximately 100 dentists countrywide both in private and government facilities.
“Assuming that the country has a population of 1.8million this means that there is one dentist to 18000 people/patients which is quite a high number. Dentistry is still one of the careers that you know you can’t go wrong with even in Botswana. You would always find somebody to offer you a job especially in government. Right now the government has planned to have a dental clinic in all hospitals that they would be building in the future. This also is going to create a great need for dentists. The government right now has about 46 dentists countrywide, which are still not enough,” she says.
The main challenge, Mabaila says, is that many people do not recognise dentistry as a priority career as they think it is all about cleaning teeth. She says the services are   costly and most people cannot afford it unless they are on medical aid and they end up settling for less ideal treatment.