These are the stories of our successful people that we will publish in the section “On the ladder of success”. Fakulteti.mk and the Educational Center of “Pivara Skopje” through the training “Skills for Success” show you the way to the stars.

– Choose a profession with love. It is easiest to work and progress if it is your choice and you do the job with ease. Education and further education do not end with formal education. We learn and thrive all our lives. The more we invest in our education, the greater the results we will have. Of course, not to neglect visions and dreams. The dream can be fulfilled if you fully invest in its realization – says Assoc. Dr. Maja Mojsova-Mijovska.

Dr. Mojsova-Mijovska is the National Transplant Coordinator, President of the Association of Physicians for Anesthesia, Resuscitation and Intensive Care, and was closely introduced to the public as the Chief Anesthesiologist in the team that performed the first heart transplant under Covid-19 conditions. The operation went down in the history of Macedonian healthcare and raised awareness of the importance of organ donation. All this is a sufficient argument that Dr. Mojsova-Mijovska carries the title of Woman of the Year.

– Everyone has their own path in life and I do not think there is a recipe for success. I just believe in my visions which have not always been easy to realize. My vision was to put our country on the world map as a serious system in the development of organ donation and transplantation and I think that is a success.

I surprised my parents with my choice of high school

Growing up in the center of Skopje, behind the Parliament, in the so-called Kuchkar neighborhood due to the many dogs that gathered there, Dr. Mojsova-Mijovska was initially in love with art. Writing poetry, singing, and even the desire to become a ballerina were the first affinities she had before falling in love with medical science.

When enrolling in the high school “Nikola Karev”, Department of Biotechnology with Natural Sciences, Dr. Mojsova-Mijovska did not have any desires and ambitions for medicine. She simply discovered her love for the natural sciences, and even to the surprise of her parents, she decided to enroll in that high school. The desire to study medicine came to her during her high school days.

– Somewhere at the end of primary school I realized that my love for natural sciences is growing. Interestingly, I surprised my parents with my choice and I must admit that they were not very thrilled. I was very interested in genetic engineering, but also in veterinary medicine. I think that around the third year of high school my things crystallized and I realized that medicine is my calling. In “Nikola Karev” at that time biology, chemistry, systematics of animals and plants, physiology, anatomy of man and animals were studied. It was simply a challenge for me to study the human body.

“Why choose medicine when you have no doctor in the family?”

“Why choose medicine when you do not have a doctor in the family?” Is the sentence that Dr. Mojsova-Mijovska most often heard after publicly declaring her love for medicine, sometime at the beginning of the fourth year of high school. The love for this science developed to such an extent that it grew into an ambition to enroll at the Faculty of Medicine in Skopje.

– I made the final decision at the beginning of the fourth year and my decision was accepted with surprise by everyone. I did not inherit my love for medicine, I simply developed it. I literally fell in love with medicine and that love still lasts. I enrolled at the Faculty of Medicine in Skopje. Admissions were then taken in a very strict atmosphere and in strict conditions. I was 12th on the list and of course I was proud of myself. My pre-knowledge in biology and chemistry was a great help for my admission.

I will never forget the evening when we waited for the results in front of the Dean’s Office. After midnight they only read the names of the applicants, but I was late and caught them mid -reading, somewhere near the 60^th number. By the end of the list, I was not there, and there was really no one to tell me if I had been read at the beginning. Honestly, I knew my test was great because I knew how much I knew about biology and chemistry, but still the anxiety, the fear, the excitement were too great. When I returned sometime after midnight, my parents told me: “But they told us that you were admitted with a high number of points, and we honestly do not doubt you.”

Faculty days were her most beautiful period in life

The most beautiful, but also the most difficult – these are the epithets with which Dr. Mojsova-Mijovska describes the student period. Getting up at 5 in the morning to get to the exercises and answering in front of the whole audience during the exams are just some of the methods with which the then future doctors were “steeled”. After graduation, she decided to specialize in anesthesia, resuscitation and intensive care, an area that to this day is her great love, but also a great challenge. “Some say that we, anesthesiologists, are addicted to adrenaline and I think we did not make much mistake in that assessment,” said Mojsova-Mijovska, describing anesthesia as a dynamic, fast and stressful profession.

– The first year was probably the most difficult at the faculty because almost all the subjects took place at the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. Exercises started at 7, so you normally had to get up at 5 o’clock. I remember my confusion and insecurity, so I can honestly say fear. You simply do not know your own capabilities in those years, but there was also some dilemma and questioning whether I made the right choice.

When I graduated from college, I spent most of my time in surgery and then my interest in anesthesia developed. At my request to volunteer at the Clinic for Anesthesia, Resuscitation and Intensive Care, I received permission from prof. Sholjakova. Unfortunately, I volunteered for another four years, and after two years I enrolled in a private specialization.

The biggest achievement is the birth of my son

“It may be difficult for a young child to be separated from his mother when she is on duty, but on the other hand, children see their own parents’ examples of professional and work ethic, responsibilities and obligations, and that leaves a big mark on their maturity.”, says Dr. Mojsova-Mijovska about her attempts to balance professional life with motherhood.

– Fortunately or unfortunately, I had a child after completing the specialization. I had many stays in foreign hospitals. Probably these educations took time for family responsibilities. But, of course, my biggest achievement is the birth my son, who is now 15 years old and enrolling in high school. I find it difficult for a woman to be committed to both work and family, but I will say it again – the profession itself allows you to do several things at the same time.

She is strict towards the students, but fair and principled

As an assistant professor at the University “Goce Delchev” in Stip, Dr. Mojsova-Mijovska sees working with students as a kind of relaxation, after a series of other work responsibilities. She considers herself as strict, but fair and principled in her treatment of students.

– I enjoy working with students and somehow after so many years of clinical work, lectures and exams are like a relaxation. I want to pass on knowledge and I believe that everyone should leave behind generations that will inherit it. I ask students to have knowledge of the subject, but also when I ask them about anesthesia and emergency medicine, I get an overall impression of their knowledge of medicine.

I developed my love for transplantation as an anesthesiologist at the Clinic

The successes in the field of transplantation, ie the field of organ donation, are something that Dr. Mojsova-Mijovska is especially proud of as a national coordinator for transplantation. She has been leading that segment in our country for four years, and she has dedicated 10 years of her education in that field.

– I developed my first love for transplantation as an anesthesiologist at the Urology Clinic, where I later became head of department. Kidney transplantation from a related living donor has been developed in our country for 35 years and that is where my doctorate came from. When I worked with these patients, I kept thinking about what patients who do not have a related living donor do and what they do with them. There was a scholarship competition from the World Transplant Association. With that scholarship I spent a month in Zagreb on education for organ donation from a deceased donor. Then I was sent to Barcelona and got a European degree from Transplant Procurement Management (TPM) where I got an advanced degree and it was an irreplaceable experience in this field.

Prepared by: Nikola Petrovski