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Clinical Simulation and Skills Unit turns 10 years old. From a dream to a leader in simulation training

18 October 2023 | Story André Damons | Photo André Damons

Prof Chris Viljoen, Head of the School of Biomedical Sciences; Prof Gert van Zyl, Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences; Prof Francis Petersen, UFS Vice-Chancellor and Principal; and Prof Mathys Labuschagne, Head of the Clinical Simulation and Skills Unit (CSSU), during the unit’s 10-year anniversary celebration.

In just 10 years, the Clinical Simulation and Skills Unit (CSSU) at the University of the Free State (UFS) went from being just a dream to becoming a national and international leader in medical simulation training.

The CSSU forms part of the School of Biomedical Sciences and was officially opened on 21 February 2013. The CSSU celebrated its 10-year anniversary on Thursday, 12 October 2023.

Prof Mathys Labuschagne, Head of the CSSU, said at the evening’s celebration that the vision and dream came true 10 years ago. “I think the requirement for the successful integration of simulation into a curriculum is first and foremost that it is based on research evidence. It is not a thumb-sucking exercise”.

“It is really seated in research and then you need passion and dedication. You cannot be successful without that, and for that I need to thank my staff – without your passion and dedication it would not be possible to excel,” said Prof Labuschagne.

Simulation important for patient safety

According to the professor, good networking is also important – between departments, professions and companies outside the university and hospital. He said simulation is important for improving patient safety and expanding the training platform.

“By doing simulation, we can train students who cannot always be accommodated on the training platform. There are also a lot of educational advantages to using simulation. Our training activities in the past 10 years grew tremendously. At the moment we have about 4000 undergraduate and postgraduate student contacts a year. Then we do a lot of certification and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) courses. During COVID-19 we did PPE training and ICU training for hospital and clinical staff in a safe environment.

“I am really proud of our research output. In the past 10 years we published 34 articles, and have another six articles currently in press. We have successfully completed eight master’s and seven PhD dissertations and there are now five students who are enrolled and all of them are simulation-associated. I cannot believe it has already been 10 years. I am very proud of the unit, and we strive for excellence in simulation education and training.”

Highlights of unit

Prof Gert van Zyl, Dean of the UFS Faculty of Health Sciences, congratulated the unit on achieving this milestone. Taking a trip down memory lane, he mentioned the names of colleagues who played a role in establishing the unit and said their contributions might not be visible in name in the unit, but they are recognised by them in achieving this milestone.

“It is an excellent achievement to have seven PhDs in 10 years. Well done. Another highlight is supporting the establishing of other simulation units at Nelson Mandela University who came to learn from us. They didn’t have to go the US. The training of staff and students during COVID-19, we had the facility. Let us not forget our simulation role at undergraduate and postgraduate training.

Cutting edge of simulation-based education and training

Prof Francis Petersen, UFS Vice-Chancellor and Principal, who gave a toast at the celebration, said the occasion is an opportunity to reflect on the excellent work done over the past decade and to consider how the unit is ideally placed to meet the aspirations that the UFS has for Vision 130 and the strategy of the university.

“The work of this unit has put the University of the Free State at the cutting edge of simulation-based education and training and the ongoing efforts of all of our staff in the unit who assist with the planning, the development, the setup, and the running of scenarios are acknowledged and greatly appreciated. I want to congratulate the leadership and the staff of the unit for the excellent work you are doing,” said Prof Petersen.

According to him, simulation education has numerous advantages such as improved patient safety, skills development, learning without involving real patients and the transfer of knowledge to the clinical environment. It creates a well-structured teaching and learning framework where simulation can be used as an educational tool assist in grasping the practical aspects of learning.

The training of specialised skills and deliberate practice are the key drivers behind clinical simulation as a training technique. It can also be applied as a tool to prepare students for a crisis situation, which requires high levels of preparedness and that is a very important aspect, said Prof Petersen.

“All these aspects of simulation-based education are something that relates very much to our vision and strategy. We want to be a research-led university, which means that it is not only doing research, but we try to focus on evidence and the research also helps us in the undergraduate programme to make it much more competitive.

“It also brings to the fore some qualities of our values, value of quality, value of impact and value of care. In addition, clinical simulation creates a vibrant learning experience for students and contributes towards our goal to meet the highest standards of excellence and impact in our teaching, learning and research.”

News Archive

Student leaders 2012/13 announced

2012-08-30

Ready for the task - Sabelo Khumalo, SRC President of the Qwaqwa Campus and William Clayton, SRC President of the Bloemfontein Campus.
Photo: Johan Roux
31 August 2012

The 2012/13 elections for the Student Representative Councils (SRC) of the University of the Free State were completed successfully and show meaningful support for the changes in student governance adopted by students across campuses over the past two years.

The SRC elections at the Qwaqwa Campus were completed on 23 August 2012, while the elections at our Bloemfontein Campus took place on 27 and 28 August 2012.

The SRC Elections at our Bloemfontein Campus showed a voter turnout of 4516 votes (30.8%), with the elections at the Qwaqwa Campuses showing 1753 votes (46%) – both campuses reached the required quorums and the IEA (Bloemfontein Campus) and IEC (Qwaqwa Campus) declared the elections free and fair and announced the results as a true reflection of the will of the student bodies at the campuses.

The full SRC at Bloemfontein Campus now consists of 62% black and 38% white, and 53% female and 47% male members.

In the Qwaqwa elections, SADESMO achieved 46, 38% of the vote, with SASCO, PASMA and NASMO each achieving 30,23% and 8,39% and 14,26%, respectively.

The successful elections at Bloemfontein Campus show that the detailed transformation of student governance introduced by students at the Campus in 2010 and adopted by the university in 2011, succeeded in mobilizing greater participation of students in governance and representation. These changes in the main included a shift to independent candidacy for elective portfolios (12 seats) and organizational candidacy in nine sub-councils that holds ex officio seats on the SRC. Changes also included the establishment of student representative seats in faculty governance and management forums and the adoption of a reviewed Central SRC Constitution. Ex officio seats hold full and equal constitutional authority in the SRC.

Students at Qwaqwa Campus introduced additional portfolios to its SRC, including ex-officio seats for academic affairs, arts and culture, commuter students, Rag Community Service, religious affairs, residences and sports.

A joint sitting of the Campus SRCs will establish the Central SRC 2012/13 on 9 September 2012.

As a further opportunity for participation in and the development of student governance and representation, the current Central SRC herewith also announces its recent adoption of a student governance advisory programme, namely the UFS Student Elders Council (SEC).

The SEC is established as a combined programme between the Central SRC and the Dean of Student Affairs and will consist of selected senior student leaders from all campuses who completed their terms of office, apply and are appointed to the Elders Council by the Central SRC.

The Council will serve as an advisory structure to the Central SRC and other student structures in support of the continuous development of student governance and representation of the student body at the university.

The SEC will advise the Central SRC to be constituted following the constitution of the respective Campus SRCs.

The SRC members at the Bloemfontein Campus are:

President: Mr William Clayton

Vice-President: Mr Bonolo Thebe

Secretary: Ms Karis-Robin Topkin

Treasurer: Mr Pieter Coetzee

Arts & Culture: Ms Chanmari Erasmus

Accessibility & Student Support: Ms Gene McCaskill

First-generation Students: Ms Tanya Calitz

Legal and Constitutional Affairs: Ms Nokuthula Sithole

Media, Marketing & Liaison: Ms Neo Chere

Sport: Mr Tshepo Moloi

Student Development & Environmental Affairs: Ms Thabisile Mgadi

Transformation: Ms Koketso Mofokeng

Dialogue & Ex officio: Associations Council: Mr Anesu Ruswa

Academic Affairs & Ex officio: Academic Affairs Council: Ms Nombuso Ndlovu

Residence Affairs & Ex officio: Residences Council: Mr Johann Steyn

City Residence Affairs & Ex officio: Commuter Council: Mr Michael van Niekerk

Postgraduate Affairs & Ex officio: Postgraduate Council: Mr Fadeyi Akinsuyi

International Affairs & Ex officio: International Council: Ms Tumelo Moreri

Student Media Affairs & Ex officio: Media Council: Mr Jamal-Dean Grootboom

RAG Community Service & Ex officio: RAG Fundraising Council: Mr Jaco Faul

RAG Community Service & Ex officio: RAG Community Service Council: Ms Keneue Mahloana

The SRC members at the Qwaqwa Campus are:

President General: Mr S Khumalo

Deputy President: Mr P T Lenka

Secretary General: Mr D Khethang

Treasurer General: Mr S I Sithole

Media & Publicity: Mr S N Ntombela

Politics & Transformation: Tbc

Student Development & Evironmental Affairs: Tbc Academic Affairs: Mr T Molawude

Arts & Cultural Affairs: Mr T Nkohli

Off-Campus Students: Mr B Mtshali

RAG, Community Service & Dialogue: Ms S F Mlotya

Religious Affairs: Ms D C Khau

Residence & Catering Affairs: Ms Z Mzolo

Sports Council: Mr S Mngomezulu

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