Health Science Reviews

By Thato Makena When I first arrived at UCT, I felt like I had stepped into shoes that were too big for my feet. I had a very intense perception of UCT, and I somewhat had an inferiority complex towards the people around me. In essence, my imposter syndrome made me feel like my presence…

By Baphiwe Mlondo The first day of honours orientation felt like stepping into a new world. I was initially registered for Bioinformatics, but soon realised it wasn’t what I truly wanted. I had always pictured myself in a wet lab, so I made the switch to biomedical forensic science. This decision brought me a sense…

By Karabo Tisane My honours year has been a fluctuating learning curve. Just when I thought I had conquered a moment of confusion, another layer of complexity revealed itself. If this year has taught me anything, it’s that learning is rarely linear, learning is an ever-evolving process that requires humility, persistence and willingness to embrace…

By Anela Cengani I have never thought I would do research in my entire life, until this year. From highschool to my final year of my first degree, I always thought research was demanding, thethought of having to read papers, endless writing, and studying that does not stopalways made me think I would hate it.…

By Samantha Levetan I’ll be honest – at times Honours has been stressful, overwhelming and pressurising.I fought hard all year to stay focused, keep my head down and get the work done,staying level-headed while pushing off a mental breakdown. Sacrificing sleep (whichI once swore to never do), social events and downtime pushed me to my…

By Zeeka Sellidon  I am currently halfway through my honours’ degree, and I can clearly say that it was nothing short of a rollercoaster. At the beginning of the year, I was filled with so much anxiety right before enrolling and had so many unanswered questions that only experience would allow me to answer. I…

By Buntu Mlonyeni My year as a Bioinformatics Honours student at UCT has been an incredible journey of discovery and personal growth. From the excitement of exploring cutting-edge computational biology to the satisfaction of seeing my research take shape, this experience has deepened both my technical skills and my passion for the field. What began…

by Saba Gebreseilassie My honours year started with the amazing news that my application to the BMedSci (Hons) in Neuroscience at UCT was successful. I had received a conditional offer last year, but that was not enough for my heart to rest. With various other responses coming in asynchronously, some positive and some negative, the…

By Ludwick Hlongwane Coming to Cape Town to pursue an Honours degree in Bioinformatics at the University of Cape Town, Africa’s top-ranked university, has been nothing short of a dream come true. As the first in my family to reach this academic level, I carry not just my aspirations, but those of my family and…

by Dean Brink People warned me even before I got here that honours is a monstrous year. I can see where they were coming from; honours is this terrible mixture of a year’s worth of coursework summarized in 4 months along with the first taste of an actual research project all crammed into a couple…

By Emelinah SilindaAfter two years away from the Lab, Science, and due dates pressure, stepping into Honours felt like jumping into the deep end. Honestly, I had doubts about a lot of things; my readiness, my abilities, and whether I still had it in me. But here I am, halfway through the year, and something…

By: Robyn-Lee ManchestHonour, best described as surviving beautiful chaos with a lab coat on. For me, moving to a new university for this intense year felt like being part of a complex experiment… only I was the test subject, and there was no control group in sight. Suddenly, I was navigating unfamiliar hallways, learning unfamiliar…

By Jaime Altshuler When I began my honours journey in Human Genetics at UCT, I knew this year was going to be a challenge.  What I didn’t realise was how much I would fall in love with genetics all over again.  I also didn’t expect to grow as much as I have, not only in…

By Kestrel Williamson Looking back on my first semester in Honours, a few things stand out. My course convenor’s assertion that it was actually really great to work in the anatomy building because “at least if you’re inside the building, you don’t have to look at it”. Hiking up to the neuroscience institute from campus…

By Zengeziwe Shabangu When I look back at semester 1, I’m still asking myself how I survived that nightmare? Imagine moving to another province for the first time with no friends or family, just myself, and I had to leave everything behind. For the first 2 months, I had no proper accommodation, I was depressed,…

By Samukelisiwe Ndimande During my undergraduate years, if someone had told me that I would be working in a field focused on human health and immunity, I might have laughed politely. Back then, I was deeply in love and focused in Botany and Microbiology, drawn to how plants grow, microbe’s interaction, and how life works…

By Ayanda Mandlana When I began my Honours in Medical Science (Neuroscience and Physiology), I was excited, curious, and slightly nervous about the unknown. But I soon realized that Honours is not so much about getting skilled in lab work or writing a thesis, it’s about being a scientist in mind, asking better questions, and…

By Edward NguniDoing an Honours degree had always lived in my heart as a dream—one I nurtured carefully through late-night study sessions and moments of awe during my undergraduate years. It was Microbiology, especially, that lit the spark. The rich, complex topics we explored made it clear: This is what I was meant to do.…

by Amanda Dlamini This year has been one of the most challenging, yet important times in my life. Coming from KZN to Western Cape for the first time in my life, I had to adapt to a new environment and during my undergrad, I was not exposed to many practicals or lab work, so adjusting…

By Frances Schnell This year has flown and dragged by at the same time. Looking back, it’s hard to believe how much we’ve packed into a short space, yet there were moments where the pressure made it feel never-ending. My BSc Med Honours year has been one of the most challenging and developmental experiences of…

By Candice Watkins I never had a clear reason for going into healthcare. I kind of woke up one day and thought, I guess I enjoy biology class so why not? Whenever someone asked for my motivation, I gave the standard response: to help people. While that remains true, my driving force to stay in…

By Thobeka Makoaqa My academic journey from Lesotho to Cape Town has been a transformative experience, marked by both challenges and growth. I began with an Honors degree in Health Information Management, drawn to the intersection of healthcare and data. While I found the field rewarding, I soon realized the immense potential of bioinformatics to…

By Lutendo Sikhwari The BMedSci Honours journey in 2025 has been one of the most academically intense, and emotionally demanding experiences of my life. From the very first week in February, the pace was fast, expectations were high, and there was little room for adjustment. The transition from undergraduate to honours-level work was sharp. Suddenly,…

By Audrey Kelly Nyoni What a journey it has been! Looking back to my first day in this Honours degree, everything feels so much clearer now. Initially, the thought of two weeks of general techniques, followed by three weeks of stream-based practicals, twelve intense weeks of modules, and a demanding exam week, I was honestly…

By Amy Stubbs This year felt like going to the optometrist and realizing I’d needed to get an updatedprescription. Things started out looking murky and formless, where I wasn’t able to see muchpast a few metres in front of me. However, slowly along the course of the year, things started tobecome clearer. An issue that…

By Erin Layne Fischer Honours has been an eye-opening year. As someone who left her undergraduate years lookin forward to beginning work that veers away from rote learning and testing, I am excited by the prospects of research and contributing to the field of science. I feel that, especially with beginning the research project aspect…

by Lola Lee Entering a new academic space was a daunting experience. I kept thinking to myself how on earth I was somehow going to go from an undergraduate to being a fully capable and knowledgeable scientist. The thought alone could make me undermine myself to a point where I doubted this was the environment…

by Jae Eun Park For me, playing piano was more about the destination than the journey. A successful talent show performance, a fruitful piano exam, delighted applause from my grandparents. It was never about the many hours of practice, whether productive or frustrating. Writing was similar. It was never about the perfect MeSH terms, the…

By Maxene Rich I entered this year coming into a completely new environment being away from home and living with other people for the first time, making new friends, and starting a degree in a field I had not majored in during my undergraduate studies. Although this might seem quite terrifying for most people, I…

By Enya Steyn What a journey it has been!  My year started with a mix of fear and excitement. During undergrad, people often said that honours is something to be feared- and to some extent, they were right. But thankfully, it got better. At first, I was overwhelmed with imposter syndrome. I kept thinking, “…

By Zinhle Radebe When I received my acceptance into the Honours program, I was very happy; it felt like a dream finally coming true. I had prayed and worked so hard for this opportunity, and I was excited to begin the journey I had always hoped for. However, the excitement quickly gave way to doubt.…

By Emma van der Velden My Honours year felt like an endless swim in the deep end of a very large, very cold pool. A pool filled with crocodiles. And some kind of mysterious waterborne disease. The relentless coursework and research were often overwhelming, leaving me more confused than when I started. But somewhere in…

By Alexander Sittmann Leaving Medicine: In late 2024, I made one of the most difficult decisions of my life. I chose to leave medicine. I had never been so unsure of myself, had never before been at the junction of so important a metaphorical crossroads. At the time, what I was doing felt like a…

By Tavia Quarmby Moving back to South Africa after studying my undergraduate degree in Melbourne was a decision I made solely based on getting to be around my family and friends again. I chose to study at UCT due to its proximity to those important to me but never expected it to impress me with…