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21 November 2019 | Story Nonsindiso Qwabe | Photo Charl Devenish
Ultrasound read more
Checking out some features of the Samsung ultrasound system are, from the left: SSEM Mthembu Medical's Chase Hutchinson and Jannie Coetzee; Head of Anaesthesiology, Dr Edwin Turton; and Head of Undergraduate Training in Anaesthesiology, Prof Lomby Odendaal.
Medical students in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the UFS will now be able to learn how to perform procedures such as the precise location of a vein for intravenous lines and for diagnostic procedures such as detecting abnormalities in pregnancies, identifying gallstones, and diagnosing trauma-related injuries with ease.  This will be made possible by the placement of a one-of-a-kind ultrasound machine – putting them on par with cutting-edge global medical technology.

A first ever in the medical curriculum of undergraduate students at the UFS

The state-of-the-art, compact HS70A Samsung ultrasound system to the value of R1,4 million was unveiled in the Faculty of Health Sciences’ Clinical Simulation and Skills Unit on 19 November. A first ever in the medical curriculum of undergraduate students at the UFS, it is set to revolutionise the delivery of health-care education in the faculty, said Prof Lomby Odendaal, Teaching and Learning Coordinator for undergraduate anaesthesiology training in the Department of Anaesthesiology.

The ultrasound system was donated by SSEM Mthembu Medical and Samsung Korea.
Prof Odendaal said for the first time in the history of the undergraduate MB ChB curriculum, the ultrasound will be available to medical students from their third year. Students have never had the opportunity to be trained in using ultrasound this early in their careers.

Improved clinical training experience of students

Ultrasound is a diagnostic medical tool that uses sound waves to produce images of internal structures of the body. Prof Odendaal said ultrasound is important to determine pathology and diseases in the body and to provide point-of-care ultrasound. Having the ultrasound in the unit will transform the clinical training experience of students, training them to provide better treatment and medical care, even in constrained environments, to improve patient care.

“There is almost no structure in the body that cannot be examined using ultrasound. It makes the delivery of healthcare more effective. If you make a better diagnosis, the treatment and care will be much better. Ultrasound is so important lately that if you don’t do it, you will be left behind. That’s why we decided to bring this to the students. We can’t miss out on teaching our students about ultrasound, because we want them to be familiar with it by the time they finish their medical degree, so that, even if they go to smaller hospitals, they will be able to spread diagnostic care to the periphery,” Prof Odendaal said.

Streamlined workflow for patient care

“The cutting-edge technology and rich image quality of the ultrasound will deliver top-notch diagnoses to suit the diverse departments within the faculty,” said Chase Hutchinson, National Product Manager at SSEM Mthembu Medical. It comes with various pre-set models to cater for different needs and applications, allowing streamlined workflow for higher efficiency and patient care.

According to Prof Mathys Labuschagne, the Head of the Clinical Simulation and Skills Unit, ultrasound training will improve the quality of doctors graduating in the faculty. “We are really excited about this. You can diagnose many conditions using ultrasound and deliver point-of-care ultrasound; this will become a natural part of students’ training and clinical practice in future.”

News Archive

Research project gives insight into the world of the deaf
2005-11-30

Mr Akach in conversation (using sign language) with his assistant Ms Emily Matabane. Photo: Lacea Loader

UFS research project gives insight into the world of the deaf

The Sign Language Division of the University of the Free State’s (UFS) Department of Afro-Asiatic Studies and Language Practice and Sign Language has signed a bilateral research project with the universities of Ghent and Brussels to write a book on sign language. 

“We want to compare the Belgium and South African sign languages with each other.  The book will be about the deaf telling us about themselves and how they live.  It will also focus on the use of story telling techniques and the grammar used by deaf people.  We want to see if the hand forms and the grammatical markers and other linguistic features that deaf people from these two countries use are the same or not,” said Mr Philemon Akach, lecturer at the UFS Sign Language Division and coordinator of the research.  

According to Mr Akach, the sign language community in South Africa, with about 600 000 deaf people who use South African Sign Language (SASL) as first language, is quite big.  “Over and above the deaf people in South Africa, there are also the non-deaf who use SASL, like the children of deaf parents etc.  This book can therefore be used to teach people about the deaf culture,” he added.

Another of Mr Akach’s achievements is his election as Vice-President of the newly established World Association of Sign Language Interpreters (WASLI).  The association was established earlier this month during a conference in Worcester.

Mr Akach has been actively involved with sign language interpretation since 1986 and has been interpreting at the World Congress of the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) since 1987.  “My appointment as Vice-President of the WASLI is an emotional one.  I have been involved with deaf people for so long and have been trying to create awareness and obtain recognition for sign language, especially in Africa,” said Mr Akach.  WASLI is affiliated to the WFD.

According to Mr Akach there was no formal structure in the world to support sign language and sign language interpreters.   “Now we have the backup of WASLI and we can convince governments in other African countries and across the world to support deaf people by supporting WASLI and therefore narrow the communication gap between the deaf and the hearing.  My main aim as Vice-President is to endeavour for the recognition of sign language and spoken language interpreters as a profession by governments,” he said. 

According to Mr Akach the formal training of interpreters is of vital importance.  “Anybody who has a deaf person in his/her family and can communicate in sign language can claim that they are an interpreter.  This is not true.  It is tantamount to think that all mother tongue or first language speakers are interpreters.  Likewise students who learn sign language up to whatever level and are fluent in signing, should still join an interpreter’s programme,” he said.

“Sign language interpreting is a profession and should be presented as an academic course alongside other spoken languages.  The UFS has been taking the lead with sign language and spoken language interpretation and was the first university on the African continent to introduce sign language as an academic course,” he said.

“Although sign language has always been an unknown language to young people it has become quite popular in recent years.  This year we had a total of 160 students at the Sign Language Section of the UFS and the numbers seem to increase steadily every year,” he said.

Mr Akach’s assistant, Ms Emily Matabane, is deaf and they communicate in sign language.  Ms Matabane also handles the tutorials with students to give them hands-on experience on how to use sign language.  


Media release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Media Representative
Tel:   (051) 401-2584
Cell:  083 645 2454
E-mail:  loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za
30 November 2005

 

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