Dr Terblanché was born in Johannesburg. He attended the University of the Orange Free State and began studying for his MBCHB in 1983. In 1988, Dr Terblanché qualified with a distinction in surgery. He played cricket for the university first side and became the secretary of the National Council for Registrars. In 1990, he was conscripted into the military service and attained the rank of Second Lieutenant. He began specialising in 1994 when he achieved his MMED Neurology, and FCPSA Neurology. After qualifying, he worked for two years in a pain clinic rehabilitation hospital, and attended ward rounds in the psychiatry hospital. He commenced his private practice in 1996 and took on a position at Unitas Hospital in 1999.

As a solo neurologist he gradually developed a system that currently comprises six neurologists who provide continuous after-hours care. He is passionate about vascular disease and in 1996 he performed his first thrombolysis procedure. The hospital now holds a full interventional team, and interventional treatment for ischemic stroke is undertaken on a regular basis due to the work done by him. Dr Terblanché has presented at the National Neurological congress on vascular work undertaken at Unitas Hospital. He is a member of the Angels Steering Committee, an initiative by Boeringher Ingelheim on an International level on stroke awareness, and facilitation to make hospitals stroke ready. He holds a MPI, and GPI. At the end of last year he relocated to Cape Town and is now practicing at Mediclinic Durbanville.