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10 June 2019 | Story Zama Feni | Photo Zama Feni
CrazySocksForDocs
UFS medical students displaying multi-coloured mismatched socks as they heeded the call of the #CrazySocks4Doc campaign to raise awareness about mental health in the medical profession.
Hundreds of pairs of socks were dished out to medical students last week during the campus launch of the #CrazySocks4Docs (#CS4D) awareness campaign that seeks to help break the silence around mental-health illness in the medical profession.
 
More than 600 medical students from the University of the Free State (UFS) School of Internal Medicine heeded the call by the non-governmental organisation, Ithemba Foundation, whose mission is to educate the public around mental health – specifically depression and related diseases such as anxiety disorders – and to support research.

On Monday, 3 June 2019, the Ithemba Foundation launched the CS4D campaign countrywide at all tertiary institutions with medical schools to help break the silence around mental health in the medical profession. 

“We have ensured a sponsorship of 10 000 pairs of mismatched socks for medical students, to be distributed according to student numbers at each medical campus,” Ithemba Foundation said in a statement.

Students waking up to the call

A large number of UFS medical students gladly embraced the call and helped themselves to pairs of multi-coloured socks at the James Moroka Building foyer on the Bloemfontein Campus.

Judy Modise, a second-year medical student, said she was impressed with the initiative.
“I think this is a very interesting campaign, as we all know the devastating effects of mental health in society, and more specifically on doctors,” she said.

UFS has risen to the challenge

In a widely published opinion piece on mental health in October last year, UFS Rector and Vice-Chancellor Prof Francis Petersen, stated that one in every three South Africans suffers from some form of mental disorder.

He mentioned that, “The university has just released a first draft of its first-ever Student Mental Health Policy.”

“This policy seeks to redress the inequalities and disadvantages created by prejudice and discrimination against persons with mental-health disabilities and difficulties,” said Prof Petersen.
 
Destigmatising mental health is key

The Ithemba Foundation further stated that, “It is critical that we start the conversation around mental health in the health profession – especially among the next generation of medical professionals, as the stigma surrounding the illness in doctors persists. Wearing mismatched, brightly-coloured socks may seem like a weird place to begin, but to care for others, we also have to care for ourselves and each other.”

The purpose of the campaign is to create awareness about the highly stressful nature of the medical profession; the need for doctors to seek help when needed, both mental and physical; the need for those in the health profession to help one another and the need to reshape the culture of the health care industry and to ensure that you will have a new mindset concerning your own mental health. 


News Archive

Access meets quality in UFS-Varsity College partnership for law degree
2012-07-30

 
At the event were, from the left: Mr Frank Thompson, CEO of ADvTECH, Prof. Jonathan Jansen, Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the UFS, and Prof. Johan Henning, Dean of the Faculty of Law at the UFS.
Photo: Johan Roux
30 July 2012

The University of the Free State (UFS) and Varsity College this week officially launched a partnership whereby the university’s Faculty of Law will offer a four-year Bachelor of Law qualification through the UFS School of Open Learning on eight Varsity College campuses nationwide. This new degree will be offered as early as 2013.

This is the fulfilment of a dream, said Prof. Johan Henning, Dean of the Faculty of Law at the university. He was one of the speakers at the event that was attended by staff members and management from the, Faculty of Law, the university’s South Campus, Varsity College and ADvTECH.

The UFS Faculty of Law is one of the oldest and most distinguished faculties of law in South Africa, and has a close association with several overseas universities which ensures that the institution is internationally recognised.

“I am very positive and enthusiastic about this new partnership. We want to make this an enriching experience for staff and students from both the university as well as Varsity College,” Prof. Henning said.

The CEO of ADvTECH, Mr Frank Thompson, said he is overjoyed about the project and its potential. Varsity College is a brand of the ADvTECH Group, a JSE listed company invested in human capital.

“This is a new beginning for Varsity College and the UFS. Learning together, the slogan for this project, is very appropriate. We are excited to add new students to the university and Varsity College’s line-up,” Mr Thompson said.

Varsity College is part of the Independent Institute of Education (IIE), the leading provider of private higher education in South Africa. According to Dr Felicity Coughlan, Director of the IIE, the partnership between the IIE and the university is an example of the potential that is inherent in public-private partnerships to increase the range of high quality options available to students.

Prof. Jonathan Jansen, Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the UFS, who also was one of the speakers at this event, said with this partnership, students will get the best of both worlds in accessing higher education.

The Faculty of Law will ensure that students obtain both a thorough grounding in legal theory, as well as a solid practical foundation, and Varsity College, through a strong commitment to innovative teaching and learning, will empower more students to become legal graduates of the highest calibre. Thus, the innovative partnership between the UFS and Varsity College will produce a Bachelor of Law degree that is highly sought after in the legal profession.

This partnership is the first of its kind, paving the way for increased collaboration between public and private tertiary institutions to best serve the education sector and the future of graduates.

“This is what is possible when two dynamic partners like the university and Varsity College come together,” Prof. Jansen said.
 

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