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Mission: Possible

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 ...”

News Archive

Vice-Chancellor’s Prestige Scholars Programme provides platform for next generation scholars

2015-12-08

Dr Rudo Ngara

“The PSP provides a platform for growth, where scholars get to interact with seniors and peers, giving much needed guidance as to where you are and what the next level of your work should be.” This is how Dr Rudo Ngara —a scholar of the Vice-Chancellor’s Prestige Scholars Programme (PSP)—describes the initiative.

For young scholars, such as Dr Ngara, it can be difficult to generate sustainable funding externally for their research. These researchers are not yet established in networks and collaborations independent of their doctoral supervisors, which makes procuring funding even more challenging. This is where the PSP makes an invaluable contribution.

Through the support of PSP, Dr Ngara was recently awarded a substantial NRF (National Research Fund) grant. Dr Ngara is currently a lecturer in the University of the Free State (UFS) Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences on the Qwaqwa Campus. Her research is especially topical as it investigates how crops—particularly cereals—respond and adapt to a range of abiotic stress factors. These factors include drought, high salinity, and extremely high temperatures. Dr Ngara seeks to develop resilient crops that are better suited to produce under harsh environmental conditions. This research endeavour would have been far more complicated if not for the PSP.

Although the programme is not a funding agency, it does have an excellent record of support towards generating funding from outside sources such as Fulbright, the Commonwealth and, of course, the South African NRF.

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