1. What inspired your shift from clinical work to healthcare leadership?
My first day working as a qualified medical doctor was at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital on 1 January 2015. It is a day that I will always remember. I was completely overwhelmed by the sheer number of patients filling the trauma receiving area on that New Year’s Day. There was barely space to move around.
The first patient that I saw was a young man with a deep, open wound on his upper arm. This was the kind of wound that needed surgical intervention to fix, and there was very little that I could do for him in casualty. I told him that I would be back soon to sort him out and turned and left the cubicle. I then got sucked into many other cases, working solidly for the next 30-odd hours. After handing over to the oncoming team, he was still sitting there, still not yet having been attended to.
When I came back to work the following day, he still sat waiting for help. It took 3 days for him to finally receive care. That story, and many others like it, left their mark on me. The experience that I gained from clinical work was extremely valuable, and I am grateful for it. But a role in healthcare leadership presents the opportunity to drive change on a greater scale. I hope that my work will contribute to increasing access to healthcare for more South Africans. And, in doing so, make stories like this one less frequent.
2. What key barriers keep women from senior roles in healthcare?
One of the most persistent barriers is the false separation between competence and confidence. Systems often reward visibility, assertiveness, and self-advocacy. These are traits that are generally encouraged in men and discouraged in women. Unfortunately, leadership is not a genderless space.
Indra Nooyi, the former Chief Executive Officer and Chairperson of PepsiCo, wrote: “Despite our advances, women are still breaking into this world. We belong to every industry group and fill the seats on non-profit boards, but men have the distinct advantage of having created the rules of the game, and we aren’t invited everywhere.”
We must also recognise the often unseen impact of caregiving. Many women either choose or feel obligated to take on the primary responsibility for raising children, managing households, or caring for aging parents. While these choices are valid and often deeply personal, they come with a professional cost that our systems rarely acknowledge or support.
3. How has your approach to mentorship created real change?
Interestingly, I don’t actually see myself as a “mentor.” I feel like there is still so much for me to learn! But what I know is that I hold high standards, and I also offer high levels of belief in people. I hope that this permits people to do more than they thought possible. I bring an intensity and boldness to what I do, and I think that makes a difference, particularly to other women who may find it difficult to do the same.
I don’t hide my ambition, or the unconventional choices I have made, including not having children, choosing a partner who is my equal in every sense, and pursuing a demanding and meaningful leadership role. I like to think that I approach leadership with an authenticity that allows others to step into their full potential, too.
4. What advice do you give women who feel overlooked in medicine?
First of all, accept that there are certain challenges you will face. The sooner you stop complaining or fighting the system, the sooner you can find ways to make it work for you. Don’t wait to be chosen. Don’t shrink. Don’t make the mistake of trying to be palatable. Decide what a role in medicine means to you and what you want out of it, and then put your head down and pursue it.
5. How can women leaders improve healthcare access and equity?
Women bring a unique lens to healthcare. Whether that lens is more emotional, more collaborative, more caring, that’s not for me to say. But what is true is that having more diversity in leadership will always result in more diverse views on the table. And this is crucial if we want to achieve access and equity on a grand scale. If we truly want to improve healthcare for everyone, then we must challenge the status quo and ask the hard questions.
6. How do you embed gender equity in system reform?
You don’t get system reform without gender equality. Regarding existing systems, we must ask ourselves who they were built for, as well as who they may have been failing. Then we need to make sure that all voices are not only heard, but structurally integrated into how we make decisions, set priorities, and measure success. If we only ever have the same groups represented, there will be no reform, just more of the same.
7. Was there a turning point that led you toward broader impact?
I wouldn’t say that there was just one turning point, but rather many moments stitched together that inspired me to work to affect real change. I often find myself driven by abstract concepts. One in particular that I often come back to is the idea that the greatest films of all time were never made. To me, this means that there are so many great ideas out there, many of which could have been turned into the most brilliant films, but the opportunity never materialised.
Similarly, there are people out there who could have been the best writers, athletes, scientists, but they never got the opportunity to. There are so many reasons for this, limited access to healthcare being one of them. I am so fortunate to have had the opportunity to step into the role that I am in, and it means a lot to me that I might open up opportunities for others through the work that I do. This is a guiding principle for me in trying to drive real impact.
8. Who inspired your leadership path, and what did they teach you?
My leadership path was inspired by Rui Morias, CEO of Dis-Chem. I’ve been fortunate to have him as a mentor. He saw my full potential long before I did, and his belief in me permitted me to trust my own voice and to own my intensity rather than dilute it. This belief changed the trajectory of my career. But more importantly than that, it helped me understand that powerful leadership isn’t about control, it’s about clarity, presence, and authenticity.
9. What does a truly inclusive healthcare system look like to you?
I believe that this is represented by the concept of Universal Health Care (UHC). The World Health Organization describes UHC as a system where “all people have access to the full range of quality health services they need, when and where they need them, without financial hardship”.
10. How do you balance mentorship, advocacy, and personal growth?
I don’t see these as separate things, necessarily. They are deeply interconnected. Mentorship sharpens and grounds me. It challenges me to hold myself to the same standards that I demand from others. Advocacy ensures that my work is not just about personal success, but rather about how I impact the system around me. And personal growth is really the foundation of it all. I am very intentional about how I spend my time, always aiming to improve my ability to guide, think, and work. This allows me to show up more effectively as a mentor, advocate, and leader.
11. What message do you have for women in healthcare this Women’s Month?
It’s supposed to be hard. That’s how you know that you are doing something meaningful.
12. What one change would fast-track gender equity in leadership?
We need to change the narrative: gender equity isn’t merely a moral obligation; it’s a significant business opportunity. Many of the strategies typically suggested to promote equity, such as extended parental leave or leadership quotas, often come with practical trade-offs that complicate their implementation. However, the more important shift we need is to recognize and value what diversity truly brings: broader perspectives, smarter decisions, and better products and services that reflect the world we live in. Gender equity isn’t about making sacrifices; it’s about unlocking the value we are currently overlooking.
Short bio:
Dr Jess began her career in clinical practice, gaining hands-on experience in anaesthesia across specialities such as obstetrics, orthopaedics, and critical care. But it was the wider, systemic barriers to healthcare, particularly around access and equity, that sparked a shift in her career. Driven by the desire to make a broader impact, she now uses her medical background, academic insight, and leadership to reimagine what’s possible within the healthcare system.
She is also a committed mentor and advocate for diversity in healthcare leadership, particularly the advancement of women into senior roles. For her, mentorship is about more than guidance; it’s about making space for new voices, ideas, and perspectives to shape the future of healthcare.
