Now in my 73rd year, I have the benefit of looking back on decisions that affected the direction of my life. As a schoolboy, I was attracted to the law but a strong dislike of Latin, then a requirement to study law, lead me to enrol as a medical student. Many years later with a successful career as a paediatrician in academia, the politics of South Africa lead me to change direction and move into health management after 1994. Twenty years later, I ended my management career, retiring as the Head of the Western Cape Department of Health. An unplanned course but as the title of my valedictory address delivered…