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MB ChB class of 2020 completes medical programme with a 98,3% pass rate

17 December 2020

The more than 100 medical students who graduated virtually from the University of the Free State (UFS) Faculty of Health Sciences on Monday (14 December), graduated with a pass rate of 98% in a tumultuous year dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The MB ChB class of 2020 – a total of 104 students from the School of Clinical Medicine – graduated virtually on 14 December due to COVID-19. Another virtual graduation is scheduled for 4 January 2021.

An uncomfortable reality
Dr Lynette van der Merwe, undergraduate medical programme director in the School of Clinical Medicine at the UFS, congratulated the latest UFS doctors on their success. Said Dr Van der Merwe: “In a tumultuous year dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic, this group of final-year medical students refused to give in to the pressure and disruption of national lockdown, emergency remote teaching, an adjusted academic calendar, and frontline exposure as healthcare professionals in training.”

“They persevered against all odds, faced up to an uncomfortable reality, and showed remarkable resilience.”

According to Dr Van der Merwe, the class of 2020 completed the gruelling five-year medical programme with a pass rate of 98,3%, impressing external examiners who commented on their respectful attitude towards patients and thorough knowledge and skill.

“The School of Clinical Medicine and Faculty of Health Sciences are immensely proud of our new colleagues and look forward to their contribution to the future of healthcare in South Africa. This achievement would not have been possible without the unwavering commitment of the academic and support staff who guided our students and led the way for them to achieve a life-long dream.”

“We look back with gratitude on a year that required more than the usual amount of adaptability, creativity, innovation, faith, patience, bravery, and endurance. It is these qualities that set apart the doctors who graduate from the UFS, and those who train them,” says Dr Van der Merwe.

Hope for the future
She says while COVID-19 is still a harsh reality and the future holds much uncertainty, 2020 has shown that there is hope when we face challenges with grace under pressure, and a firm belief in our goals and values. “Class of 2020, may you continue to rise above fear, chaos and disappointment, may you take heart and walk your journey with strength, may you bring healing to our people and lead us well.”

Drs Kaamilah Joosub and Lynette Upman, who also graduated on Monday, were awarded the prestigious Bongani Mayosi Medical Students Academic Prize – a national award which aims to recognise final-year medical students who epitomise the academic, legendary, and altruistic life of the late Prof Mayosi. The awards are presented to final-year MB ChB students from all South African medical faculties. This is the first year it has been awarded.

• View the virtual graduation

News Archive

Jan Smuts: from country boy to world stage; a reassessment

2017-11-10

At the book discussion of Jan Smuts: van boerseun tot wêreldverhoog;
'n herwaardering, were from the left: Con Robinson, Protea Bookshop;
Prof Kobus du Pisani; and Prof André Wessels from the Department
of History at the UFS.
Photo: Leonie Bolleurs

Prof André Wessels from the Department of History at the University of the Free State (UFS) was one of 20 co-authors of Jan Smuts: van boerseun tot wêreldverhoog; 'n herwaardering – a book compiled under the leadership of the general editor, Prof Kobus du Pisani, from North-West University. This unique history book deals with the different themes in the life of Smuts, rather than describing the events chronologically.

South Africans are almost afraid of their own history nowadays ... and yet another history book is being launched. Does it make sense? Yes, for two reasons.

The monster in the dark
One of the ways to overcome fear is through knowledge. The monster in the dark disappears when one understands that the street lights and tree branches are creating interesting shadows. The more one knows about something, the less scary it becomes.

The Greek Bible
This was possibly also Smuts’s approach. Knowledge was his passion, and even today he is considered as one of the best students of the University of Cambridge. Although very few people really understand his holism theory, Smuts experienced the complex world in a very simple way – as one – not as lots of different pieces functioning independently of each other.

Smuts could have made a success of any of his interest fields – law, botany, literature, and philosophy. However, politics laid three wars on his doorstep. While he is regarded as a militarist by some, he was actually a peacemaker. He played a role in the establishment of the League of Nations, and later the United Nations. Incidentally, he continued to read the Greek Bible while on commando during the Anglo-Boer War.

A colourful character
The second reason for yet another Jan Smuts history book is his fascinating humanness. Time should be spent on colourful characters such as this. It is worthwhile hearing the story of someone who had such a great impact locally and internationally – good or bad.

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