70 YEARS ON THE JOB

At 96, John Callaghan is believed to be the oldest practising doctor in SA and he has no plans to retire

- SIPHOKAZI ZAMA

HE COULD have retired years ago, but somehow Dr John Callaghan never got around to it he was too busy and his patients needed him. Besides, he loves his work so much he can't imagine doing anything else.

Decades have come and gone and although he's now hit the grand old age of 96, the Pretoria ear, nose and throat (ENT) surgeon has no plans to hang up his stethoscope.

He's believed to be the country's oldest practising doctor and even after 70 years on the job every day still brings an opportunity to make a difference, he says.

"I've never regretted going into medicine, John says. "I've enjoyed every moment of it. Medicine is a holy science.

People come to you with all their miseries and pain and it's your duty to listen to the patient and relieve their discomfort."

His workday starts at 6am and ends around 3pm and often during the day he'll have other ENT surgeons coming to pick his brain. When they're stumped, they send him their most complicated cases.

The innovations he's seen in medicine, especially when it comes to imaging, continue to surprise him. Technology, he says, hasn't made for better doctors,

rather it's enabled them to make more accurate diagnoses so they're better equipped to treat patients.

"You can do bloodwork, cultures and all sorts of other tests that we didn't have before, John says.

Yet, despite technological advances, John says the basics haven't changed. For him medicine is all about having the ability to change lives.

"I enjoy people's company and doing what I need to do. I feel good when they are better. To me, that's the reward."