The latest episode of the LeadUP Podcast series, brought to you by UP’s Alumni Relations Office, is now available and features the first woman to receive a Master of Medicine in Neurosurgery degree from UP, Dr Coceka Mfundisi.

The specialist neurosurgeon practises at Busamed Modderfontein private hospital, and has interests in neurotrauma, neuro-oncology and spinal surgery. She also serves as a test match surgeon during international rugby matches and is a member of the Health Professions Council of South Africa’s Fifth Medical Committee of Preliminary Inquiry and of the executive committee of the Society of Neurosurgeons of South Africa. 

In this episode, Dr Mfundisi chats to Lennox Wasara about the temperament of a surgeon, and how farming fields alongside her family as a child helped her as a young doctor. She also talks about how she merges traditional African medicine with Western medicine and lets listeners in on why she refused to give up on her dreams and on fighting for change where she encounters injustices in her field.

Download, listen and subscribe to the LeadUP Podcast today – click here to find LeadUP Podcast in your favourite podcast app, or go to www.up.ac.za/LeadUP and click on LeadUP Podcast. New episodes are out every second Monday. 

LeadUP Podcast is a production of the University of Pretoria’s Alumni Office. Lennox Wasara hosts the podcast, and our team includes Elna Schütz and Samantha Castle. Louis Cloete Productions provides sound engineering services.