Dr Shalen Cheddie – 15 March 1982 – 25 November 2022
Dr Shalen Cheddie passed away on 25th November 2022 following a 2-year long illness. This brought a premature end to the career of a remarkable surgeon who achieved a legendary status on account of his burgeoning academic standing, undiluted commitment to public service delivery and exceptional professional and ethical conduct.
Dr Shalen Cheddie will be recalled as always being humble, even tempered, self-effacing and impeccably mannered; he consistently showed admirable respect to his patients, teachers, peers and loyalty to the Department of Surgery, University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN).
A scion of the Cheddie clan, Shalen was a 4th generation Grimitiya (indentured Indian). His standing, given the historical and discriminatory challenges faced by our community, is testament to an innate perseverance, call to duty and to never yield to foisted obstacles – always inspired and guided by our culture and religiosity.
Dr Shalen Cheddie was born on 15th March 1982 and raised in Reservoir Hills, Durban where he undertook his early education. Thereafter, he completed the MBChB degree (summa cum laude) with innumerable awards at UKZN. Following internship and community service at Baragwanath and St Benedictine Hospitals, respectively, Dr Cheddie pursued his surgical training at this alma mater.
During his General surgery specialization training Dr Cheddie further demonstrated his prodigious academic talents that were evident during his undergraduate studies; he completed the FCS degree [acquiring the Brebner award (2009) for the best Intermediate examination candidate and the Douglas award for being the best Final examination candidate (2012)], as well the Master of Medicine degree – within 4 years.
In 2013 Dr Cheddie was appointed as Consultant Surgeon as Madadeni Hospital; in 2016 he was appointed as Head of Department of surgery at this facility. During his Madadeni tenure Dr Cheddie also had an Honorary appointment with the Department of Surgery, UKZN.
He was totally committed to the Madadeni circuit; not for him were the allurements of private practice, the distraction of remunerative work outside of public service (RWOPS) nor the glitz of sub-specialization – he functioned effectively as a General surgeon without complaints in a resource constrained environment, bringing succor and hope to the expectations of the poor and marginalized communities of Madadeni, Newcastle, Dannhauser and Dundee in rural northern KwaZulu-Natal. He declined academic appointments to his alma mater, citing the satisfaction and affinity he developed for the rural communities he served.
From his Madadeni base, Dr Cheddie supervised 6 Master of Medicine degrees and produced 23 publications until being ravaged by his illness.
I can attest that he undertook all his responsibilities and duties – service related and academic – with alacrity, always based on deontological ethics – and was never motivated by the potential of any encomium. It is a travesty that his unparalleled contributions and achievements during his short career ought to have received recognition (despite our motivations).
Dr Cheddie’s legacy provides a template for the burgeoning surgeon – a ternary for surgical practice in our resource constrained country; this weld equally the acquisition and execution of a skill set that is appropriate for the majority of our patients together with the dissemination and production of knowledge that is relevant to our services, both undertaken by altruism and sensitivity to our societal challenges.
Dr Shalen Cheddie is survived by his wife Vereesha, his parents Anand and Rameka Cheddie and elder brother, Dr Nishaan Cheddie.
Bugsy Singh
Emeritus Professor
Department of Surgery
University of KwaZulu-Natal