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01 April 2022 | Story Andre Damons | Photo Supplied
Dr Nicholas Pearce
All smiles. Dr Nicholas Pearce, Head of the Department of Surgery in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of the Free State (UFS), receiving his award as best Doctor of the Year at the annual National Batho Pele Excellence Awards from the Honourable Minister Ms Ayanda Dlodlo, Minister of Public Service and Administration (left). With them on the right is the Honorable Dr Phophi Ramathuba, MEC for Health in Limpopo.
Although his name is on the award, Dr Nicholas Pearce, Head of the Department of Surgery in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of the Free State (UFS) and winner of the Batho Pele Excellence award, believes every individual he has worked with during the COVID-19 pandemic are the winners of this award. 
 
At a ceremony last month (25 March 2022), Dr Pearce received the Best Doctor of the Year award at the National Annual Batho Pele Excellence Awards (NBPEA) for his work as head of the COVID-19 Task Team at the Universitas Academic Hospital in Bloemfontein.
 
“I feel that this reward reflects a team of individuals who went above and beyond during a very uncertain period in our lives. I feel elated that the team has been acknowledged for the sterling work done during the COVID-19 pandemic.  

“I’ve been supported by a brilliant clinical team, with the likes of Dr Samantha Potgieter (Infectious Disease Specialist – UFS), Dr Shaun Maasdorp (Head: Multi ICU – UFS), Dr Edwin Turton (Head: Anaesthesiology – UFS) and many others, in running COVID-19 at the Universitas Academic Hospital and in the province,” says Dr Pearce.

According to him, this award also reflects the efforts put in by the University of the Free State in supporting COVID-19 in terms of logistics and donations, particularly Prof Francis Petersen, Rector and Vice-Chancellor, Prof Prakash Naidoo, Vice-Rector: Operations, Dr Vic Coetzee, Senior Director: Information and Communication Technology Services and his team, as well as Mr Nico Janse van Rensburg, Senior Director: University Estates and his team. It also shows how much more can be achieved in the health-care sector and overall, when the private and state sectors combine to conquer a common enemy.  The award is also a reflection on the Free State Department of Health and its ability to adapt to changing burdens of disease.

Humbled and honoured by the award

A humble Dr Pearce says he feel honoured to receive this award; however, there are many unsung heroes in the public sector. He says: “This is a national award for which nominations are received from all over the country, and then the winner is selected from this group of individuals by an independent panel. There are many unsung heroes in all of our lives; teachers (university, high school, and primary school), security, and all health-care workers. There are many people who are brilliant at what they do.”

His nomination came from the hospital and the Department of Health, primarily via Dr Rita Nathan, Head of Clinical Services at Universitas Academic Hospital, but with a large amount of input from the hospital management as well as the Member of the Executive Council for Health in the Free State, the Honourable Montseng Tsui, and the Head of Department of Health, Mr Godfrey Mahlatsi.  

Synonymous with fighting COVID-19

Since the early days of the pandemic, Dr Pearce’s name has become synonymous with the Universitas Hospital and fighting COVID-19. He feels that this is unfortunate, as he had several people who worked hard with him and who contributed to the success of fighting this deadly disease. 

“I think what made us so dynamic is that many people on the team came with many different skillsets and we were able to have an all-encompassing battle plan by harnessing the many different and individual skills to push us forward as a province.”  

“I think that I, as chair of the COVID-19 task team, to get the majority of credit is somewhat disingenuous and not really reflective of all the effort that many people put into the situation.”

Impact of COVID-19 

The pandemic impacted him on a personal level, says Dr Pearce. According to him, the question he is often asked is why he is working at a university. His response: “Fundamentally teaching a large population that the impact we have is beyond a single human interaction. For example, if I was purely a doctor, I would only be able to treat one patient at a time, but by working within the university, we are able to prepare our next generation of doctors and our impact is much larger and beyond just the individual patient.”  

Dr Pearce believes protecting the state health-care sector is vital for the future, as this is the training platform for future doctors, specialists, and all other health-care workers. The use of resources for the betterment of society is so much more important.  COVID-19 not only allowed hospitals to buy equipment that doctors would otherwise not have access to, but also allowed them to procure equipment in a rapid manner that will be used for many years to come. 

The next challenge

Dr Pearce says when the COVID-19 outbreak started, he was on his way back to South Africa from Germany when he saw people wearing masks, and at the same time they were building hospitals in China in seven days. Once back at the office, he immediately approached management at the hospital and asked them to start procuring masks, PPEs, etc. “We did not really know what was going on, but I felt that this was the first step.”

When COVID-19 took over and elective surgery stopped, Dr Pearce became the chairperson of the COVID-19 task team – something he enjoyed, as it taught him a lot about management, about human interaction, and about teamwork. It also taught him about his goals and ambitions in life. Though he is back in surgery almost full time, he is looking for his next challenge. 



 

News Archive

African Student Affairs Conference a huge success
2011-05-24

 
Mr Rudi Buys, UFS Dean of Student Affairs, Mr. Folabi Obembe, Managing Director of Worldview International, Ms Birgit Schreiber, Director of the Centre for Student support services at the University of the Western Cape, Dr. Augustinah Duyilemi, Dean of Student Affairs at the Adekunleh Ajasin University in Nigeria, Dr. Christina Lunceford, assistant Director for the Centre for Research on Educational Access and Leadership at California State University in America, and Prof. Cecil Bodibe, student affairs veteran and consultant.
Photo: Earl Coetzee

The African Student Affairs Conference (ASAC), which took place on our Main Campus last week, was a major success, with two days of lectures and discussions and two pleasant social gatherings, where delegates had the opportunity to get to know each other.

The conference, hosted on African soil for the first time, and co-hosted by the University of the Western Cape (UWC), started on Wednesday 18 May 2011 with an informal welcoming session. Delegates got to meet each other and Mr Rudi Buys, UFS Dean of Student Affairs, explained the meaning of South African words like "kuier" and "lekker'.

The official start of events took place on Thursday 19 May 2011, in the Reitz Hall in our Centenary Complex. The conference was attended by delegates from universities across the continent and aimed to place the focus on issues relating to student affairs in an African context.

Delegates shared and exchanged strategies, ideas and resources, and discussed issues related to the work of student affairs professionals. The conference hoped to promote an exchange of best practice and assist attendees in identifying successful programmes.

Among the topics discussed on the first day, were “Constructing Post-Conflict Democracy on campus: a case study of transformation of student governance and political engagement as post-conflict intervention”, by Mr. Buys, and a discussion on ways in which social and online media can be used to ease the challenges of student interaction, development and support, by Ms Birgit Schreiber, Director of the Centre for Student Support Services at UWC.

A panel discussion, led by Mr Buys and several members of our Interim Student Council (ISC), discussed the specific challenges faced at the UFS.  The importance of buy-in from role-players in decisions taken by University management in order to ensure their success, was discussed, using the UFS and our recent changes as an example.

The successful integration of residences on campus inevitably came under the spotlight and the recently resolved Reitz-saga was named as a catalyst in getting students less apathetic and more involved in attempts at creating racial and social harmony.

Dr Christina Lunceford, Assistant-Director of the Centre for Research on Educational Access and Leadership at California State University, presented a paper entitled A National Approach to Building Capacity in Student Affairs in South African Higher Education.

She commented on the fact that there is little or no philosophical framework or explicit theory that informs practice of student services in South Africa.

According to Dr Lunceford, student development should be a key concern for every department or unit within student services and emphasized the need for a centralized student development unit at each university.
She also touched on the need for institutions to implement support from international student affairs professional associations, professional development for student affairs practitioners, the utilization of technology to support professionals in the field, and working with international partners to explore future opportunities, as ways in which student affairs can be used to drive performance and change at universities.

The conference continued in the Scaena theatre on Friday 20 May 2011, with presentations by Dr Augustinah Duyileme, Dean of Student Affairs at Adekunle Ajasin University in Nigeria, and Prof. Bobby Mandew, Executive Director of Student Affairs at the University of Johannesburg (UJ).

Dr Duyileme presented a paper on the challenges faced by Nigerian universities with regard to student conflict and protests, which often turn violent, and how such violence can be curbed through proper planning and management.

Prof. Mandew presented a very well-received presentation on UJ’s successful off-campus housing initiative, which involves home-owners and business owners in the areas surrounding their campuses.

Their approach demonstrated how proper planning can prevent problems associated with over-population in private homes and conflict with neighbours of the university, usually related to an influx of students into residential neighbourhoods.

This problem is faced by many universities, as more and more students flock to universities on the continent and campus residents cannot accommodate them.

The conference came to a close on Friday, with most delegates agreeing that the exchange of knowledge which took place was extremely valuable.

Ms Deborah Lahlan, of Nigeria, said: “This is an important conference for Africa and it should become a regular event.”
 

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