Mail & Guardian’s 200 Young South Africans List

Dr Nkhensani Mogale makes the Mail & Guardian’s 200 Young South Africans list

Celebrating Mail & Guardian’s 200 Young South Africans

education at their institutions. The fellowship equips candidates with educational, scholarship and leadership skills and fosters an active professional network among educators. The SAFRI fellowship takes place over two years and consists of three on-site sessions as well as distance learning. During the programme, each fellow develops an education intervention project that they present at their second on-site session as well as at the annual conference of the South African Association for Health Educationalists (SAAHE). In the photo, SAFRI faculty and fellows from the University of Pretoria are pictured at the recent on-site session in Cape Town after the project presentations of 2019 fellows Dr Mia-Michaela Beetga (Dentistry) and Ms Eileen Du Plooy (Occupational Therapy). Of the 54 fellows and faculty from across sub-Saharan Africa who participated, ten were from the University of Pretoria, a clear indication of the faculty’s commitment to development and capacity building in health education.

Anatomy lecturer and researcher, Dr Nkhensani Mogale, was included in the Education category of the Mail & Guardian’s 200 Young South Africans list. Dr Mogale joined the University of Pretoria in 2017 when she was appointed as a lecturer in the Clinical Anatomy section of the Department of Anatomy. She was the first black women to be appointed in that role. Dr Mogale is proud of the achievement and recognition. She also feels a great sense of responsibility in terms of her work ethic. She stated: ‘Individuals that have previously made it to the list have gone on to do amazing things, which inspires me to be my own idea of amazing’. Dr Mogale was inspired to specialise in the field of anatomy in the second year of studying her undergraduate degree. For the first time, she saw and experienced the complexities and intricacies of the human body. Her passion was ignited from that moment, and it is a flame that has kept on burning. She notes: ‘The human body is complex and, when we feel that we have figured it out, we realise that there is still so much more to explore.’ Driven by her passion for anatomy, Dr Mogale wanted to be one of the best in the field and make a positive impact in the lives of students and young professionals. Her advice to young students who have an interest in anatomy is to approach this field of science with a willingness to be taught and corrected continually. She adds: ‘Anatomy is a humbling subject; we are all constantly learning and reinforcing our knowledge’.

One of her career highlights was completing her PhD within the three-year set time while juggling motherhood. Her second daughter was born while she was completing her manuscript and helping her elder daughter with her homework.

In addition to her recent achievements, Dr Mogale is the honorary secretary of the Anatomical Society of Southern Africa, where she was again the first black woman to occupy the position. She has also been accepted to Michigan State University for a postdoctoral fellowship under the African Alliance Partnership (AAP) and hopes to start in January 2021.