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Health Sciences awards first Bongani Mayosi Medical Students Academic Prize

12 December 2020 | Story André Damons

Bongani Mayosi Prize Latest News — Drs Kaamilah Joosub (in front) and Lynette Upman, medical students in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the UFS, are the winners of the first Bongani Mayosi Medical Students Academic Prize for final-year medical students.

Two final-year medical students from the University of the Free State (UFS) became the first recipients of the prestigious Bongani Mayosi Medical Students Academic Prize which was bestowed on them 10 days before their graduation.

Drs Kaamilah Joosub and Lynette Upman, two final-year medical students in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the UFS are the first medical students from the university to be awarded the prize.This is the first year it has been awarded.

Drs Joosub and Upman received their awards at a function on Friday (4 December 2020) from Prof Hanneke Brits, Phase III chair and specialist in the Department of Family Medicine, on behalf of Prof Gert van Zyl, Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences.

The Faculty of Health Sciences will host a virtual graduation on 14 December 2020.

Prestigious national award

The Bongani Mayosi Medical Students Academic Prize is a prestigious national award which aims to recognise final-year medical students who epitomise the academic, legendary, and altruistic life of Mayosi. The awards are presented to final-year MB ChB students from all South African medical faculties. Each student is allowed one vote for one classmate who, in their private opinion, best balances:

Academic achievement
Emotional intelligence ‑ good interpersonal skills
Social accountability ‑ the ability to respond helpfully to the needs of others

Winners are determined by the highest number of digital votes, with the first-prize winner receiving R6 000 and second prize coming in at R4 000.

Dr Lynette van der Merwe, undergraduate medical programme director in the School of Clinical Medicine at UFS, commented that Drs Joosub and Upman are worthy winners, as they have continuously exemplified the ideals recognised by this award during their undergraduate training.

The School of Clinical Medicine is very proud of its newest Kovsie doctors who successfully completed the academic year despite the immense challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. This is thanks to the commitment and hard work of students and staff at the UFS.

Name behind the prize

The late Prof Bongani Mayosi was an outstanding doctor who rose rapidly through the ranks to become a top cardiologist, internationally recognised as a leading clinician scientist. He completed his undergraduate studies at the age of 22, having graduated cum laude in both the Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery (MB ChB) and Bachelor of Medical Sciences (BMedSci) degrees.

He trained as a physician and cardiologist at Groote Schuur Hospital and completed his doctorate at the University of Oxford in the UK. At the age of 38‚ he became the first black to be appointed professor and Head of the Department of Medicine at the University of Cape Town (UCT). In 2016, he was appointed Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at UCT. Before taking up his deanship, he completed the Advanced Management Programme at Harvard University in the US.

As a medical student Prof Mayosi excelled academically, was supportive of his classmates and enthusiastically involved in student residence committees and politics as well as community outreach programmes. As a researcher, he initiated an international programme of research focusing on solutions for poverty-related heart diseases and trained local clinician scientists and research leaders.

Prof Mayosi had an exceptional mixture of academic brilliance and vision; ambition and humility; kindness and generosity; passion and compassion; drive and empathy that complemented his ability to persuade and inspire others, which no doubt contributed to his 400 publications.

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Qwaqwa Campus honours academic excellence

2017-05-18

Photo: Ian van Straaten

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Qwaqwa Campus kicked off the 2017 graduations season of the University of the Free State in style when over 550 degrees and certificates were conferred in three sessions on 12 and 13 May 2017. These included five PhDs from the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences.

In his maiden speech delivered during the two ceremonies on Friday 12 May 2017, the newly-appointed Vice-Chancellor and Rector, Prof Francis Petersen, emphasised the interconnectedness of graduates with other stakeholders in their communities.

“Never forget the role played by other people who sacrificed a lot for you to be here today. Recognise the extra mile that someone was willing to go for you to graduate,” he said to an enthusiastic audience that included Grade 12 learners from neighbouring schools.

Prof Petersen also reminded the graduates that not everybody had an opportunity to enter, enrol, and eventually graduate at a university. “You are part of the privileged few, and I am confident that the UFS has given you an equal opportunity to reach your full potential. You have had years of exposure to ideas and experiences on diversity. You now have the opportunity to show the world and to use what you have learnt beyond a classroom,” he added.

“Go out there and open doors for others as much as they were opened for you. I implore you to carry over your experiences of diversity and use them to build a better world. Go out there and build a better world, not only for yourself but for everyone in need. Expand your influence, reach out, and be accountable,” he said.

“South Africa needs your skills,
innovation, knowledge, expertise,
and creativity.”

Make your own unique contribution
The session held on Saturday 13 May 2017 saw the Principal of Motheo TVET College and Qwaqwa Campus alumnus, Dipiloane Phutsisi, having a heart to heart with the graduates from the Faculty of Education.

“Our contribution to the world as graduates will not be measured by the wealth we accumulate or the accolades we receive, but rather by the way in which we share our unique gifts with the world. And the only place to find those gifts is to look within yourself. As the class of 2017, make your own unique contribution,” she said.

“Your graduation takes place at a particularly challenging time in the history of our democracy. It happens at a time when our nation is engulfed by racial polarisation, anger, confusion about what democracy and freedom mean to us, and at a time when the pillars of morality are tested.”

“As you graduate, I wish to remind you that our country needs you more than ever before. South Africa needs your skills, innovation, knowledge, expertise, and creativity,” she said.

Three members of the current SRC were also among the graduates. They are the President, Njabulo Mwali (BSc Information Technology), Sports Affairs Officer, Ntokozo Thango (BA Sociology), and Student Development and Environmental Affairs Officer, Ntokozo Masiteng (BA Sociology).

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