Biomedical Sciences degree and a passion for health paves the way to providing Health Strategy and Policy advice in Botswana

Sydney Bonang has an extraordinary job, no less remarkable is the pathway that he took to secure it.?

Growing up in Gaborone, the capital city of Botswana, Sydney always had an interest in healthcare. So when an opportunity came up to enroll in a three year diploma to learn how to become a pathology laboratory technician, he jumped at it.?Sydney says it was a great course covering a wide range of tests and approaches from microbiology to immunology and working with all the specimen types imaginable.?

Very soon after graduating, Sydney was snapped up by the Botswana Ministry of Health & Wellness to work as a pathology technician across several hospitals.??Sydney says “it was really a bit of shock to come out of my diploma and into a complex hospital environment.?I really didn’t have any exposure to patients or how pathology specimens were obtained.?When I was doing my diploma all the specimens we needed to train on just ‘appeared’ for us, we didn’t think too much about where they came from. After starting in the hospital I realised that there were so many more dimensions; understanding the needs of patients, the demands and time pressures faced by clinicians, and the need to get results quickly.?Working in this environment I rapidly acquired a whole new set of skills, working across teams, and environments, often with a lot of pressure.?It was important to do a good job and get it done quickly”.?

After a couple of years in working with the Ministry of Health, Sydney says he wanted to extend himself and was attracted to an opportunity to work in a civilian capacity with the Botswana Defence Force (BDF).?Having the opportunity to support BDF’s service personnel, as well as develop a whole new set of skills was an exciting prospect. The Ministry of Defence was looking for someone with my exact skills set, so it was a straightforward transition.?

After settling into his Defence role, Sydney began to realise that there was a lot that he didn’t understand about the way the body worked.?He knew how to collect and process samples efficiently, but didn’t have a deeper understanding of why you would want to collect and measure the samples that he was processing every day.?At around the same time the Ministry of Defence made available scholarships to study a degree abroad to develop your knowledge.?Immediately, Sydney knew that he wanted to study Biomedical Science and applied for the program.?The Scholarships were very sought after, says Sydney, I was ecstatic when I found out that I had been selected.?Sydney had to choose between a couple of countries where he could do the degree, but some colleagues had previously studied in Australia and had a great time.?Sydney knew that Australia was a safe country and this is how he came to study Biomedical Sciences at the University of Newcastle.

When I took the flight to Sydney knew that he had to be prepared for a different culture but wow was it different! says Sydney.?Upon getting to Newcastle, he had a single night of accommodation organised at the Jesmond Hotel.?My plan was to understand the city and to look around a bit before getting my own apartment.?As soon as I arrived at the Hotel everybody was lovely and were curious to know why I had come from Botswana to study here.?To my surprise one of my fellow countrymen had also come to study and just happened to be in the Hotel that day playing pool.?We immediately struck up a conversation and friendship and he insisted that I stay with him until I got set up.?After a few weeks of boarding, I found my own place and settled in.??It was a total co-incidence to find a great friend that first day, but luck was with me, says Sydney.?

Sydney loved undertaking the Biomedical Science degree.?He says that the School of Biomedical Sciences was brilliant at integrating me into the program.?I enjoyed all my subjects, says Sydney, followed by a pause, and then a sigh, except Statistics!?That was really hard!??Sydney says of his time in Australia “perhaps the strangest thing was the food, the taste was so different to what I would eat at home.?At first, I didn’t like it but after a while it grew on me.?When I graduated, I was ready to travel home. I left Newcastle having had a great experience as a person and was much more confident in my biomedical knowledge from fundamentals through to disease processes”.

Sydney says, when I arrived back in Gaborone I resumed the position that I had held before leaving for my degree studies.?While the position was the same, I was quite different.?With the knowledge that I had acquired with my degree, I was so much better prepared to interact with clinical staff.?For the first time in my career, I could understand what the clinicians wanted to know and why.?On occasions I might suggest some other possibilities to discover disease processes.?Having the newfound skills and competence was great for me both personally and professionally.?Having worked closely within Defence for several years in a civilian capacity I felt that I could contribute more if I was a full member of the Defence Force.?So in 2016, after undertaking a lot of training, I joined the Botswana Defence Force as a Captain.?

Sydney says, I have stayed within Defence since 2016 and taken on several different roles.?However, at the beginning of the COVID pandemic the situation got very difficult, and I was posted to act as a liaison between the Ministry of Health & Wellness and the Ministry of Defence.?This is a unique position, but one that I can do because of the specialised training I have as both a biomedical scientist and a solider.??Sydney’s role is to make sure information flows smoothly in both directions. There is a lot of important advice that needs to move across organisations! Sydney, says.?Sometimes, he receives requests from the Government for the Military to help provide additional manpower to deliver health and medical supplies.

Sydney reflects, I now recognise how much of an important steppingstone my degree in Biomedical Science was. I really enjoy my role now and feel privileged to serve my country in this way.