Leonard Muhango

Category
Health

Age
28

Organisation / Company
Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital
Website

Profile

As a medical officer in orthopaedic surgery at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, 28-year-old Dr Leonard Muhango’s long list of duties include managing orthopaedic trauma patients, doing operations, doing ward rounds and seeing patients in the outpatient clinic. He also teaches Wits medical students and does presentations at meetings of the Wits Orthopaedic Department. Muhango is working towards specialising as an orthopaedic surgeon. He participates in community projects at township schools and is often invited to schools and churches to talk about health. As an undergraduate, he co-founded Wits Wrap it Up Medical Society, and is still an executive committee member and tutor there and was instrumental in establishing the society at Sefako Makgatho Health Science University. He is a co-founder of Wits Marrow, a student NPO that aims to improve the survival chances of people with leukaemia. Muhango runs revision sessions for first-year medical students on weekends and after hours as well as mentoring students at Ernest Oppenheimer Residence. “I was humbled and honoured to have an award named after me — the Leonard Muhango Award. This is the class award for the Wits final year, given to students who always went out of their way to do the best for their class and everyone else,” he says.

List your educational background - qualifications and institutions?

• Matric National Senior Certificate, Oxford Combined College 
• Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBCh), Wits University 
• Basic Surgical Skills, Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University
• Advanced Trauma and Life Support, Gauteng North (Pretoria)
• Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support, International SOS 
• Advanced Paediatric Life Support, International SOS
•  Primary of the Fellowship of the College of Surgeons of South Africa, The Colleges of Medicine of South Africa
• Wits Basic Orthopaedic Skills Course, University of the Witwatersrand Orthopaedic Department 
• Introduction to Research Ethics, eLearning Trree

Any awards or achievements in your field?

• Wits outstanding year mark in Psychological Foundations of Health, 2012
• Golden Key Member, 2013
• Wits Medical Students’ Council president, 2015
• Wits Health Sciences Students’ Council president, 2015
•  Wits Marrow co-founder and president, 2014-2015
• Wits Vice-Chancellor’s Student Leader of the Year Award 2015 
• Wits MSC Dean’s Award 2016 and 2017
• Wits MSC President Award 2018
• Wits EOH Community Award 2018 
• Ladysmith Regional Hospital Intern Doctor Representative 2018, June – 2020, May
• Junior Doctors Association of South Africa KZN chairperson, 2019-2020
• National Department of Health (ICSP) Appeals Review Panellist 2020 
• “The Leonard Muhango Awar” – humbled and honoured to have an award named after me. This is the class award for the Wits Final Year (MBBCh VI), given to the student(s) who always went out of their way to do the best for their class and/ everyone else 
• Passing the FC Ortho (SA) Primaries 
• Bring afforded an opportunity to be a medical officer in Orthopaedic at a Wits-affiliated training institute CHBAH.

One childhood memory that has spurred you to such levels of achievement?

Being a dux learner in grade six.

Advice to your younger self?

Make use of every opportunity you are given.

What would you like South Africa to look like in five years?

For it to be a country with equal opportunities for everyone,  be a society where there is no discrimination of any kind and where all live at peace with one another.