Borden Mushonga

Dr Mushonga is a rare breed of anatomists combining the skills of a traditional classical dissection anatomist and a pathologist in one. He started working in 1992 as a Tutorial Assistant in Veterinary Anatomy after obtaining a BSc Honours (Intercalated) degree in Veterinary Anatomy. During this time he received three distinguished academic awards (University of Zimbabwe Book Prize, Welcome Zimbabwe Bursary and Zimbank Bursary) for being the overall best student. After completing his honours degree he elected to complete the Bachelor of Veterinary Science degree which was awarded 1995.

Upon completion of his BVSc, Dr Mushonga was immediately recruited by University of Zimbabwe as a teaching assistant in Veterinary Anatomy and later sent to University of Utrecht in The Netherlands to pursue a master in veterinary Anatomy and Pathology which he obtained after 2 years. He has worked in different capacities at different Universities including dissection technician, temporary veterinary nurse, research assistant, lecturer and Senior Lecturer. He has coordinated and taught both undergraduate Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine/Science (UZ, ISAE and Umutara) and Post graduate Master of Science Veterinary and Medical Anatomy at University of Zimbabwe and University of Namibia. To this day Dr Mushonga is still a key resource person in the pathology master’s programme at UZ. During his tenure at University of Zimbabwe Dr Mushonga conducted research and published papers on crocodile anatomy, biomechanics of the horse, pathological conditions in ducks and cattle, various pathological conditions found at post mortem in the abattoir, dairy microbiology and animal science and meat science.

Dr Mushonga helped in the final stages of setting up and equipping the Veterinary Anatomy museum at University of Zimbabwe. Nearly half of the specimens in the museum today were either dissected or mounted by him or he was involved in the plastination or preservation process. He started hands on veterinary anatomy practicals and produced a pathology laboratory guide for ISAE –Busogo and later Umutara Polytechnic in Rwanda. Dr Mushonga set up the gross pathology hall and was the first lecturer to introduce fresh and embalmed specimens at ISAE Busogo in Rwanda. He was part of the team that transformed ISAE Busogo from a diploma awarding institution to a degree awarding University. Dr Mushonga has a working knowledge of tissue plastination.

After being heavily involved in the starting of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at ISAE Busogo in the Northern Province of Rwanda, Dr Mushonga moved to Umutara polytechnic in the eastern Province where he helped to develop the Veterinary Medicine curriculum for another new Veterinary Faculty. He was consulted extensively when the master plan of the Umutara University laboratory/faculty complex was set up.

Dr Mushonga was the module leader of all pathology modules (gross and microscopic) and Head of Department and senior lecturer in the department of Biomedical Science in the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at Umutara Polytechnic. He now boasts of nearly 20 years of teaching veterinary Anatomy, the last 7 of which were spent setting up new veterinary anatomy and pathology laboratories in veterinary medical faculties and schools in Rwanda, South Africa, and now Namibia. At the time of moving to Namibia, Dr Mushonga is a member of the Council of Veterinary Surgeons of Zimbabwe, The Zimbabwe Veterinary Association, is registered with the South African Veterinary Council and the Namibian Veterinary Council.

Dr Mushonga is the current head of department of the department of Veterinary Medicine in the Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Sciences, University of Namibia. Dr Mushonga took over the department when it faced serious challenges including viability and confidence issues. Among the highlights of his long list of achievements is bringing and maintaining confidence to staff, students, parents, the veterinary community and University management in the Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Health programs that were facing viability problems when he took over. Dr Mushonga prepared and submitted formal motivation for the establishment of the school with the appropriate organogram to the University senate and worked closely with consultants to come up with a roadmap for the establishment of the School of Veterinary Medicine in the Faculty of Agriculture and Natural resources at University of Namibia. Dr Mushonga was able to teach effectively 2 years of Veterinary anatomy to the current second years in one year without much technical assistance. Dr Mushonga was able to order about 70% of all books needed for the 2 programmes for the Neudamm and Katima libraries.

In the midst of all this, Dr Mushonga was able to publish 6 articles in peer reviewed journals and has also managed to submit 5 manuscripts that are currently under review.