Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Previous Archive
28 August 2019 | Story Lacea Loader

The composition of the UFS Council is stipulated in the UFS Statute, which was published in the Government Gazette on 26 January 2018 and amended by publication in the Government Gazette on 29 March 2019.

The Convocation has to elect two (2) external (neither employees nor students of UFS) representatives to the Council to represent the Convocation and Alumni on Council, following the expiry of the term of office of these representatives.  The two (2) elected representatives will serve for a period of four years on Council.

The Convocation comprises all persons who obtained a formal qualification from the UFS, as well as all permanent academic staff members.

Members of the Convocation are invited to submit written nominations by using the Nomination Form, for the following:

1.    one representative from the Qwaqwa Campus; and
2.    one other representative.

Every nomination form shall be signed by 4 (four) members of the Convocation and shall contain the written acceptance of the nomination by the nominee under his/her signature, as well as an abridged CV and a motivation of ± 200 words.

All nominations must reach the office of the Registrar no later than 16:30 on Tuesday, 17 September 2019.

If more than one person is nominated for each of the categories mentioned above, elections will be held as stipulated in the Institutional Rules. More information regarding this process will follow at that stage.

Nominations are to be submitted to:
e-mail: registrar@ufs.ac.za

or by post (strongly advised not to use this method due to delays):

Mr NN Ntsababa  
Registrar
University of the Free State
PO Box 339
Bloemfontein
9300

or hand-delivered to:                

Mr NN Ntsababa
Room 51, 1st Floor
Main Building
UFS Bloemfontein Campus

For enquiries, please contact Mr NN Ntsababa at registrar@ufs.ac.za or +27 51 401 3796.

Kindly take note that late or incomplete nominations will not be accepted or considered.

Every nomination must be submitted separately.

News Archive

Medical team performs first hybrid procedure in the Free State
2014-12-08

The days when a heart operation meant hours in an operating theatre, with weeks and even months of convalescing, will soon be something of the past.

A team of cardiologists from the University of the Free State’s (UFS) Faculty of Health Sciences once again made medical history when they performed the first hybrid procedure in the Free State.

The Department of Paediatric Cardiology, in conjunction with the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, performed this very successful procedure on a 45-year-old woman from Kuruman.

During the procedure of 30 minutes, the patient’s thorax was opened up through a mini thoracotomy to operate on the beating heart.

“The patient received an artificial valve in 2011. Due to infection, a giant aneurism developed from the left ventricle, next to the aorta. Surgery would pose a very high risk to the patient. Furthermore, her health was such that it would contribute to problems during open-heart surgery,” explains Prof Stephen Brown, Head of the UFS’s Department of Paediatric Cardiology.

“After the heart was opened up through a mini thoracotomy, the paediatric cardiologists performed a direct puncture with a needle to the left ventricle cavity. A Special sheath was then placed in the left ventricle to bypass the catheters. Aided by highly advanced three-dimensional echocardiography and dihedral X-ray guidance, the opening to the aneurism, located directly below the artificial aorta valve, was identified and the aneurism cannulated.”
 
During the operation, a special coil, called a Nester Retractor, was used for the first time on a patient in South Africa to obtain stasis of extravasation and ensure the stability of devices in the aneurism.

“This is highly advanced and specialist work, as we had to make sure that the aneurism doesn’t rupture during manipulation and the devices had to be positioned in such a way that it doesn’t cause obstruction in valve function or the coronary artery. The surgical team was ready all the time to switch the patient to the heart-lung machine should something go wrong, but the procedure was very successful and the patient was discharged after a few days.”

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept