​As part of its 60th-anniversary celebrations, the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences is introducing 60 future healthcare professionals who are currently in their first year. Meet Glen Rwodzi.

Glen Rwodzi “miraculously” survived a diaphragmatic hernia while he was still in his mother’s womb and hence believes it is his calling to study medicine. “It’s my way of giving to the others the life and health that I’ve always appreciated.”

Rwodzi went to school in Uitenhage and is now a first-year MB,ChB student. He’s a keen tennis player and played in the Eastern Cape school’s team for three years in a row. He still runs around on the court to keep fit.

His motto in life is to strive for perfection; he highlights his work ethic as his best habit.

But his dedication does not come without a time price tag: He spends five to six hours behind his books every day and believes in setting strict deadlines for himself when studying.

He credits his father’s industrious spirit and his parents' hard work as motivation for him to succeed. He is also inspired by the world-class neurosurgeon Dr Benjamin Carson and the challenges he overcame in his career, even though Rwodzi would like to specialise in orthopaedic surgery himself.

Rapid fire

• Hidden talent? “I’ve been playing guitar for 9 years.”
• Worst habit? “My overuse of the snooze button.”
• What would you change about the country if you could? “I’d make people focus more on what they can do for the country and less on what their country ‘must’ do for them.”
• What would you write on a massive billboard if you could? “Hate is taught. Love is present from birth.”