by Aprajita Barua
Feben Bogale and Ryan McNally are Bloomberg Nursing’s new student leaders, and are ready to take on their respective leadership roles with a shared vision of strengthening student connections, fostering collaboration, and creating opportunities that help Bloomberg Nursing students thrive both inside and outside the classroom.
As the new President of the Nursing Undergraduate Society (NUS), Bogale is looking forward to a year focused on building stronger connections between students, faculty and the broader nursing community. Leadership has always been a defining part of Bogale’s journey. From taking on leadership roles through the Army Cadets to serving as President of the Biology Course Union and co-founding the Ethiopian and Eritrean Student Association during her undergraduate studies, she has consistently sought opportunities to support and empower those around her.
“When I joined Bloomberg Nursing, I wanted to continue that commitment of supporting others by giving back to a community that has already given me so much,” says Bogale. “I saw NUS as an opportunity to advocate for students and strengthen the connection between students and faculty to create opportunities that help students succeed both academically and professionally.”
Bogale’s path to nursing was inspired by a deeply personal experience. During the COVID-19 pandemic, her grandmother spent significant time in the intensive care unit and emergency department. One nurse practitioner’s compassionate care and support of Bogale’s entire family left a lasting impression.
“Even though I didn’t know her name, I knew I wanted to become the kind of healthcare professional who could make a difference for someone else’s family,” says Bogale.
That experience ultimately led her to Bloomberg Nursing, where she also found opportunities to pursue her growing interest in critical care research. In an extraordinary full circle moment, she later discovered that the faculty member leading the research team she had joined, was the very same nurse practitioner who had cared for her grandmother years earlier.
“At that very moment, I realized this was exactly where I was meant to be,” says Bogale.
McNally sees serving as President of the Graduate Nurses Student Society (GNSS) as an opportunity to combine his passion for leadership, research, and student advocacy.
He wants to help shape an inclusive and supportive graduate student experience.
When he entered Bloomberg Nursing’s Master of Nursing program, McNally intentionally sought opportunities that would allow him to grow as both a nurse researcher and leader.
“I wanted to make the most of these two years by pursuing research and leadership opportunities,” he says. “The GNSS President role aligned perfectly with those goals because it offered me the chance to lead at a systems level while directly supporting the student community.”
Since the start of his program, McNally has worked closely with faculty mentors, participated in research initiatives through the Rosenstadt Research Development Program (RRDP) and expanded his scholarship in nursing education, simulation, artificial intelligence, and technology. McNally attributes much of his success in his current roles, as External Research Activities Team Lead with Dr. Odreman’s Nursing Scholarship and Education Team (ONSET) and as a Registered Nurse Researcher for clinical trials at Unity Health Toronto, to the opportunities, connections, and strong research foundation he built during his MN program at Bloomberg Nursing.
“Learning from some of the world’s leading nurse researchers and being part of Canada’s top-ranked nursing school has helped me develop as a researcher and future educator,” says McNally.
As he looks to the next academic year, McNally hopes to bring a data informed approach to student leadership by using technology to better understand student participation and guide future programming,
He also believes, it is important to ensure graduate students from different streams in the Master of Nursing program and the doctoral programs, can participate fully in student life by offering hybrid and accessible events whenever possible.
As Bogale and McNally begin the year in their new leadership roles, it is clear they share a common goal: creating a student experience where every Bloomberg Nursing student feels supported, connected and empowered to succeed.