Dr Anisa Vahed graduated from Stellenbosch University in 2009. She completed her internship and community service in Frere Hospital Complex in the Eastern Cape, where she grew up. It was during her Community Service when she realized that child health was her calling and completed her Diploma in Child Health. She then moved back to Cape Town in 2013 with the aim to gain more paediatric experience. It was while working at District level as well as Tertiary level paediatrics that she gained confidence in managing children and their acute and chronic conditions, after-which she decided to specialize.
Dr Anisa Vahed completed her specialization in Paediatrics & Child Health in 2019 with University of Cape Town where she spent most her time working in Red Cross Children’s Hospital, as well as Groote Schuur Hospital Neonatal Unit and New Somerset Hospital.
Dr Anisa Vahed is also a mother to a very adventurous toddler and understands from a mothers perspective all the struggles a mother goes through with a newborn baby and toddler.
She hopes that by joining the Nurturey team she will be able to combine her personal experience of motherhood and her expertise in child healthcare to assist parents with any concerns or questions they may have.
Dr. Nizaam van der Schyff studied at Stellenbosch University Medical Campus and completed his studies in MBChB. The main reason he studied medicine was to overcome the reversible and treatable aspects of medicine that often go unchecked, leading to morbidity and in some cases mortality.
After completing his studies, he completed his internship at Tygerberg Hospital and his community service at Kuruman Hospital – a small rural hospital in the Northern Cape.
The best quality about practicing medicine is being able to help patients through minor, as well as life-changing illnesses. It brings him a sense of joy to be able to make a difference in a positive way in his patients' lives, be it medical or psychological. This led him to complete his Mental Health certificate in 2019.
Dr Jessica Puglia grew up in Cape Town and graduated from UCT with her MBChB.
She completed her internship at Groote Schuur Hospital and community service at Vanguard Day Hospital where she ran the INR clinic.
Jessica loves treating people of all ages and really enjoys getting to know the entire family. She believes that each patient is unique and deserves individualised treatment. Investigating the root cause of her patients’ symptoms is something that she prioritises.
When Jessica is not helping patients, she enjoys spending her time with her husband, family and friends. She also has a passion for pottery and dancing.
Dr Raphaela Itzikowitz graduated from Wits University in 2009 and completed her 2-year internship at Groote Schuur Hospital and Red Cross Children’s Hospital, where her deep passion for Paediatrics was born.
Dr Itzikowitz has worked at Red Cross Children’s Hospital for ten years across numerous departments including the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Paediatric Intensive Care, Medical Emergency and Outpatient Departments. Further she has spent substantial time at well Specialized in-patient units including Nephrology cardiology Pulmonology, Neurology and Neurodevelopmental Paediatrics. She is also involved in undergraduate teaching of medical students at UCT.
Dr Itzikowitz completed her Paediatric Registrar Training in December 2018 and is imminently completing her MMED in Growth and Nutrition qualifying her as a Pediatrician. In addition, she is completing her Masters in Public Health at University of Cape Town, and has worked for the National Institute of Communicable Diseases and the University of Cape Town in Clinical Research.
Dr Itzikowitz is happily married with two unicorn children and continues to work in Neurodevelopmental Paediatrics at Red Cross Children’s Hospital, nurturing a special interest in ADHD, ASD and other developmental disorders.
Raphaela is deeply committed to South Africa, its beautiful children and to Paediatric Medicine and believes in a child-focused, holistic and evidence-based model in order to keep families healthy, happy and thriving.
Dr Samke Nyamathe is a general medical practitioner. She conducted her undergraduate studies at the University of Cape Town and subsequently studied a Diploma in Public Health during her internship and community service years. She is currently completing her thesis towards a Masters in Child Health at the University of the Witswatersrand.
She completed her internship and community service time in Johannesburg. She then worked as an assistant general practitioner for a GP in Johannesburg. She moved to Cape Town to work with an NGO that specifically focuses on paediatric HIV and paediatric neurodevelopment and also further explored her private work as a GP through a locum agency and while working for a GP in Mitchells Plain.
She enjoys the ability to form relationships with her patients and practicing medicine affords the ability to be a source of compassion and empathy for those who need it.
Dr Chantél Friend is excited to come back home to Cape Town after a journey of discovery. Soon after qualifying as a medical doctor at Stellenbosch University, she moved to the Eastern Cape where she partnered with a non-profit organisation to serve those who were in dire need of compassion and access to medical treatment.
Later, in KwaZulu Natal, she explored her academic interests by entering the medical research field working with experts in pharmaceutical development. Because of her love for people and a desire to walk the road to good health alongside patients she has worked as a general practitioner wherever she has landed and recently opened her own practice.
She has learnt valuable lessons from sharing life with her husband and three precious daughters as well as from the many patients who have shared their health journey with her. She is thrilled to bring all this experience together to offer compassionate evidence-based medical care for the whole family.