North-West University (NWU) student Tebogo Matshehle Monogo was announced as one of the two winners of the Next Generation of the Brave competition facilitated by Adcock Ingram OTC in partnership with News24.

This programme aims to assist healthcare students financially, to provide them with mentorship from academia and industry, and subsequently promote their career development within the healthcare sector.

With so many inspirational featured stories of brave young students and professionals in the healthcare industry, it came down to the readers' and judges' votes to pick the winners.

Tebogo, a second-year pharmacy student who also holds a BSc degree from the NWU, won the Readers' Choice Award after receiving 2 300 of the total of 10 450 votes.

PhD candidate Veneshley Samuels from the University of Cape Town won the Judges’ Choice Award.

Tebogo was mentored by Dr Stephan Steyn, a senior lecturer in pharmacology at the NWU.

The readers’ choice winner was chosen by the most reader’s votes, while the judges’ choice winner was selected anonymously by the panel of judges.

The two winners each receive a R25 000 scholarship to further their studies. Their mentors will also be walking away with an all-expenses-paid trip to an overseas medical conference of their choice, and the opportunity to pay-it-forward by donating R25 000 to a registered NPO charity of their choice.

Tebogo says this means a lot to her. “This is not only because of the sponsorship I received, but also because Adcock Ingram gave all current and aspiring health care workers the chance to be celebrated during an extremely difficult and trying year.

“Celebrating our profession and the work we do uplift our spirits and make it worthwhile for putting ourselves out there. This motivates me and I am looking forward to my professional years,” she says.

*Article adapted from News24

The NWU’s Tebogo Matshehle Monogo is one of the winners of the Next Generation of the Brave programme.