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20 December 2021
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Story Igno van Niekerk
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Photo Igno van Niekerk
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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 ...”
Achievement for Accounting students
2013-05-08
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Infront: Richard Yang (2013 Academic Clerk), Raymond Cramer (2013 Academic Clerk), Me Jana Lamprecht (Lecture), Prof RonellBritz (Chairperson: Centre for Accounting), Me LizelleBruwer (Lecture), Prof HendriKroukamp (Dean: Faculty of Economic and Management Science), ThembiKganane (2013 Academic Clerk).
Back: Prof CobusRossouw (Lecture), Mr KobusSwanepoel (Lecture), Prof Hentie van Wyk (Program Director: Centre for Accounting) and Robert Bode (2013 Academic Clerk)
08 May 2013 |
The B Acc Honours students of the Centre for Accounting have done very well in the Initial Test of Competence (ITC) examination of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA), when 60 out of 65 students passed. It represents a pass rate of 92%. The overall average pass rate nationally is 74% and 86% for those who wrote the professional examination for the first time.
The Centre for Accounting achieved an average pas s rate of 81% over the last three years. Up till now it is the largest number of UFS students that passed the professional examination in one year. The highest pass rate was achieved in 2008 when 95% of the UFS students passed.