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07 March 2023 | Story André Damons | Photo Reuben Maeko
Dr William Mhundwa
Prof Thabiso Mofokeng, Head of Department: Internal Medicine, and Dr Busiswa Bisiwe, Head of the Unit: Nephrology and Dr William Mhundwa’s (right) supervisor, congratulates him on his great achievement.
Dr William Mhundwa, Senior Registrar in the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of the Free State (UFS), has become the first candidate from the institution to be awarded the prestigious Suzman Medal as the top student in the 2022 examinations of the Fellowship of the College of Physicians (FCP).  

Candidates from all medical schools in the country as well as other African countries wrote this examination in January and July 2022. Dr Mhundwa came out on top and was awarded the medal by the Senate of the Colleges of Medicine of South Africa (CMSA), which oversees the examinations.  

“I congratulate Dr Mhundwa on his outstanding performance,” commented Prof Nicholas Pearce, Head of the School: Clinical Medicine at the UFS. According to him, this is a prestigious award, and given that it is the first time that a candidate from this university has been awarded this medal, it is extra special for us as a department, faculty, and institution. 

Dr Mhundwa was born in Harare, Zimbabwe, to subsistence farmers and is the eldest of four boys. He immigrated to South Africa nearly ten years ago and started studying medicine as a way to fulfil his parents’ dreams. He eventually found his calling in internal medicine, specifically nephrology (kidney disease), and would like to obtain further qualifications in this field at the university. 

 “My achievements are the result of dedication to teaching internal medicine consultants. I am indebted to the Free State Department of Health for the opportunity to train and work under them. I hope to see great academic achievements within this province,” says Dr Mhundwa. 

He will graduate in April 2023 with a Master of Medicine, cum laude. His thesis was about The Prevalence of Chronic Kidney Disease Among Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients in Central South Africa. 

Dr Mhundwa believes “that kidney disease is a scourge in modern society.  Early diagnosis is necessary to prevent patients from requiring kidney transplants and dialysis and to improve the quality of life of my patients”.

Prof Thabiso Mofokeng, Head of Department: Internal Medicine, said, “This achievement represents the UFS’ high academic standards on national front. We hope this is the first of many.”

News Archive

Boyden Observatory turns 120
2009-05-13

 
At the celebration of the 120th year of existence of the UFS's Boyden Observatory are, from the left: Prof. Herman van Schalkwyk, Dean: Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at the UFS, Prof. Driekie Hay, Vice-Rector: Academic Planning at the UFS, Mr Ian Heyns from AngloGold Ashanti and his wife, Cheryl, and Prof. François Retief, former rector of the UFS and patron of the Friends of Boyden.
Photo: Hannes Pieterse

The Boyden Observatory, one of the oldest observatories in the Southern Hemisphere and a prominent beacon in Bloemfontein, recently celebrated its 120th year of existence.

This milestone was celebrated by staff, students, other dignitaries of the University of the Free State (UFS) and special guests at the observatory last week.

“The observatory provides the Free State with a unique scientific, educational and tourist facility. No other city in South Africa, and few in the world, has a public observatory with telescopes the size and quality of those at Boyden,” said Prof. Herman van Schalkwyk, Dean of the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at the UFS.

The observatory, boasting the third-largest optical telescope in South Africa, has a long and illustrious history. It was established on a temporary site on Mount Harvard near the small town of Chosica, Peru in 1889. Later it was moved to Arequipa in Peru where important astronomical observations were made from 1891 to 1926. “However, due to unstable weather patterns and observing conditions, it was decided to move the Boyden Station to another site somewhere else in the Southern Hemisphere, maybe South Africa,” said Prof. Van Schalkwyk.

South Africa's excellent climatic conditions were fairly well known and in 1927 the instruments were shipped and the Boyden Station was set up next to Maselspoort near Bloemfontein. Observations began in September 1927 and in 1933 the new site was officially completed, including the 60 inch (1.5 m) telescope, which was then the largest optical telescope in the Southern Hemisphere. This telescope was recently refurbished to a modern research instrument.

The observatory has various other telescopes and one of them, the 13" refractor telescope, which was sent to Arequipa in 1891 and later to Bloemfontein, is still in an excellent condition. Another important telescope is the Watcher Robotic Telescope of the University College Dublin, which conducts many successful observations of gamma ray bursts.

“In the first few decades of the twentieth century, the Boyden Observatory contributed considerably to our understanding of the secrets of the universe at large. The period luminosity relationship of the Cepheid variable stars was, for example, discovered from observations obtained at Boyden. This relationship is one of the cornerstones of modern astrophysics. It is currently used to make estimates of the size and age of the universe from observations of the Hubble Space Telescope,” said Prof. Van Schalkwyk.

“The Boyden Observatory contributed to the university’s astrophysics research group being able to produce the first M.Sc. degrees associated with the National Space Science Programme (NASSAP) in the country and the Boyden Science Centre plays an important role in science and technology awareness of learners, teachers and the general public,” said Prof. Van Schalkwyk.

The Boyden Science Centre has also formed strong relationships with various institutions, including the South African Agency for the Advancement of Science and Technology (SAASTA) and the Department of Science and Technology. The centre has already conducted many different projects for the Department of Science and Technology, including National Science Week projects, as well as National Astronomy Month projects. It also serves as one of the hosts of SAASTA’s annual Astronomy Quiz.

Media Release:
Lacea Loader
Assistant Director: Media Liaison
Tel: 051 401 2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl.stg@ufs.ac.za
13 May 2009
 

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