Latest News Archive
Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
20 December 2021
|
Story Igno van Niekerk
|
Photo Igno van Niekerk
![]()
Dr Samantha Potgieter, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Internal Medicine and Dr Nicholas Pearce, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Surgery comment on their team members’ commitment and determination during the pandemic.
On the forefront of the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic, two UFS doctors are leading a team of inspired healthcare workers in a superhuman effort to make a positive difference.
With the pandemic in its second year and the recurring challenges of new waves and strains consistently in the news, one would expect the doctors to be tired. However, quite the opposite is true. Upon entering the office where Dr Samantha Potgieter, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Internal Medicine and Dr Nicholas Pearce, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Surgery are in a meeting with colleagues, the debate is vibrant; an energetic sense of mission.
Miraculously succeeded
My brief is to collect stories and experiences they’ve had over the past 18 months at the Tumelo ward for general and high-care patients, where the team has miraculously succeeded in not running out of oxygen or ventilators, despite handling high volumes of patients from the Free State and Northern Cape. “We saw those pictures of piled-up bodies in Italy. We were committed to avoiding that at all costs. And we did.”
Success stories? First mentioned are their team members’ commitment and determination. The team had to stand in when families could not support dying patients. “They did not die alone. Our team was there.”
“Really sad and frustrating are the deaths that could have been prevented. Unvaccinated patients. They arrive ill, wanting to know if they can get it. Too late...” – Dr Nicholas Pearce
Then came hope
Sad stories? The past year has had its share of sad stories. “Someone comes in during the morning, needs oxygen, in the afternoon they are in ICU, then ventilator – and then they die. We’ve never faced anything like this before.”
Then came hope. Vaccines. Dr Pearce is in charge of the vaccination site at Universitas Hospital. “Really sad and frustrating are the deaths that could have been prevented. Unvaccinated patients. They arrive ill, wanting to know if they can get it. Too late ...” He opens his cell phone – shares the stats. “We can handle 2 000 vaccinations a day. At the moment about 250 comes in.” He shakes his head.
“We can beat this virus, but we need to stand together ...”
First M-degrees in National Astrophysics and Space Science Programme
2005-09-16
The University of the Free State (UFS) yesterday became the first university in South Africa to award a masters degree in Physics to students who have completed the National Astrophysics and Space Science Programme (NASSP).
The aim of the programme is to train a new generation of astrophysics and space scientists that are comparable to the best in the world. The programme is presented in collaboration with six other universities in the country and national facilities such as the South African Astronomy Observatory (SAAO), the Hermanus Magnetic Observatory (HMO) and the Hartebeeshoek Radio Observatory (HartRao).
Prof Peter Dunsby, lecturer at the Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics at the University of Cape Town and coordinator of the NASSP programme; Ms Elmé Breedt (from Pretoria) and Mnr Edward Jurua (from Uganda) who obtained the masters degree in Physics and completed the NASSP programme and Prof Pieter Meintjes, lecturer at the UFS Department of Physics and promoter of the two students.
The degrees were awarded during the UFS's spring graduation ceremony.