Workshops hosted 2022

Two clinical workshops were conducted during the year. An orthopedic workshop on knee replacement surgery techniques in May 2022 and an anesthesia workshop on cardiac sonography took place in August 2022. Both honors and third-year BSc students in anatomy performed prosections as part of their skills development program. Activities in the workshop were almost back to a time before the pandemic and the workshop strived to maintain the highest possible standard of service. These prosections will later be refined, platinated, and included in the student training collection.


Dr Ntsidi Moopela offered a training workshop for registrars from the department Urology in February 2022. 

                                                        

Photo: Dr. Moopela illustrates the inguinal lymph nodes, superficial inguinal ring, spermatic cord, and ilioinguinal nerve to Dr. Hoosain during the dissection

Dr B  Abrahams acted as convener of the optical and fluorescence microscopy workshop for staff and postgraduate students, presented by Carl Zeiss South Africa on 16 & 17 November 2022 in the department of Basic Medical Sciences. In attendance: Dr B Abrahams, Dr C Ntsaphi,  G van Zyl, post-graduate Physiology and Pharmacology students.


                                                      

Photo: Staff members and postgraduate MMedSc students attended a Carl Zeiss - Confocal microscopy training workshop presented on the 16 & 17 November 2022 in the Department of Basic Medical Sciences.

 

Workshops hosted 2020 and 2021

The department again hosted the popular workshops with students from the Forensic science program. The first session, "An introduction to human osteology," was hosted face-to-face before the national lockdown started. Under the guidance of Tshegofatso Ramphaleng, Dr Petra Maass, Shivani Govender, and the anatomy postgraduate students, participants completed several tasks involving identifying different bones, sketching characteristic features of bones, and competed to ask demonstrators interesting forensic questions. Unfortunately, the planned second session on "Forensic archaeology and practice" could not be presented face-to-face, but Dr Maass presented an interactive online session with students discussing forensic archaeology legislation, excavation techniques, site interpretation, and real-world forensic case files were discussed.

Photo: Workshops hosted in collaboration with the Departments of Orthopaedics Surgery (top) and Cardiology (bottom) focused on the clinical application of basic anatomy.

Staff and students participating in the Introduction to Human Osteology workshop before the national lockdown started.

Workshop news 2019

Forensic Workshops

The department again hosted the annual two-part workshop for second-year Forensic Science students in April and May of this year. During the first session, Ms Tshegofatso Ramphaleng guided students through basic human osteology, followed by a practical session with exciting challenges such as sketching bones and sorting different bones into labelled boxes. The second session, presented by Dr Petra Maass, gave students practical tips to dealing with bones in a forensic or archaeological context. The final practical session allowed students to apply their obtained skills in solving several “real” forensic anthropology cases through interpreting a crime scene and the evidence at the scene. Popularity of the workshop has grown so much that our departmental colleagues from anatomy and physiology – Dr Jenelle Govender, Shivani Govender, and Shannal Pillay – also participated in this year’s workshop.

Shannal Pillay helping students sort bones into boxes

Tshegofatso Ramphaleng briefing students before “walking the grid”

Postgraduate student, Luyanda Malangeni, helping students differentiate between human and animal bones

Dr Petra Maass explaining the use of excavation tools to students

Clinical Workshops

A postgraduate workshop was held on the 25^th of November 2019 in preparation for the 2021 external evaluation of postgraduate programmes in Anatomy and Cell Morphology and Physiology.

In November 2018, the Department of Basic Medical Sciences along with specialists from the UFS Department of Otorhinolaryngology hosted the annual “temporal bone workshop”. This week-long course saw 15 participants work through a series of advanced surgical techniques using state of the art equipment under the guidance of both local and international experts.

Dissection hall facilities ready for the temporal bone workshop

The department also hosted the Teleflex EZ-IO (interosseous) workshop in August of this year. The workshop was used to demonstrate a new procedure for the administration of emergency fluid directly into the proximal humerus or anterior tibia of a patient. Over the two days, the technique was demonstrated to several groups of participants, including anaesthetists, ambulance workers and emergency care doctors from the Free State and Northern Cape.

Participants at the EZ-IO workshop awaiting demonstration of the technique

Workshop news 2018

Photo: Dissection hall undergraduate training

 

The dissection hall facilities were used for various undergraduate and clinical workshops in 2018. The Department Basic Medical Sciences hosted two undergraduate workshops during April and May 2018, introducing students from the UFS forensic science program to the role of forensic anthropologists both at the crime scene and in the laboratory. The first session, run by Ms Tshegofatso Ramphaleng, gave students an overview of the bones of the human body, how to differentiate these from animal remains at a scene, and a glimpse of what information the anthropologist may be able to derive from these skeletal remains. The second session, run by Dr Petra Maass, demonstrated the role of forensic archaeology and the legal procedures associated with it. Students were taken through the process of “walking the grid,” documenting the scene and interpreting unusual burial conditions.

The Anatomy workshop also provided embalmed specimens to various departments and companies for training workshops in 2018. Disciplines supported during 2018 included orthopaedics, anaesthetics, obstetrics and gynaecology and otorhinolaryngology. An uro-gynaecological master workshop took place during July, and very positive feedback was received from the company. The temporal bone course again took place during November 2018 and the facilities of the department were utilized. Smaller orthopaedic workshops took place throughout the year. Requests for intra-osseous and ankle replacement workshops were also received during 2018 and would most probably take place during 2019.

Photo: Clinical Otorhinolaryngology workshop presented in the department.

Photos taken during the “Anatomy of Bite Marks as Forensic Indicators” Workshop 2017

Workshop news 2017

The new dissection hall facility was used for clinical workshops (Neurosurgery workshop and Orthopaedic Surgery workshops), postgraduate teaching seminars and undergraduate workshops. A spinal workshop took place on 06 March 2017 and two knee replacement workshops on 11 August 2017 and 13 October 2017 respectively.

The department also hosted a short workshop, The Anatomy of Bite Marks as Forensic Indicators for third-year students from the UFS BSc Forensic Science programme, on 26 of September 2017, facilitated by Dr Sonja Brink and Dr Petra Maass. Using anatomical models and skeletal specimens, students were taught about the anatomical structures involved in mastication. This was followed by a series of demonstrations of how variation in dentition and bite force can be used in the forensic interpretation of bite marks, as well as how it may hamper such interpretations. The session was greatly enjoyed by the students – some of which have not been exposed to working with human remains before – and staff alike. We hope to expand this workshop in future years, continuing our successful collaboration with our forensics colleagues.

Photos taken during clinical workshops 2017