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19 April 2024 | Story André Damons | Photo Charl Devenish
Dr Nashua Naicker
Dr Nashua Naicker, lecturer and Chairperson: Learning and Teaching Committee (SoHRS) in the Department of Optometry, UFS School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, graduated on Thursday (April 18) with the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Health Professions Education.

A strong need to improve the general standing of optometry as a profession and to create lifelong learning opportunities for locally trained optometrists beyond what currently exists, is what led Dr Nashua Naicker to pursue a PhD in this field.

Dr Naicker, lecturer, and Chairperson: Learning and Teaching Committee (SoHRS) in the Department of Optometry, UFS School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, says he feels an overwhelming sense of relief with a keen sense accomplishment by achieving what he set out to through persistence in the face of adversity.

He graduated on Thursday (18 April) at the Faculty of Health Sciences April graduation ceremony with the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Health Professions Education through the Division of Health Sciences Education. “I am pleased and hope to change the narrative on this new path as an accredited researcher from ‘how long are you going to take to finish?’ to ‘what have you learnt in this journey?’. We are far too focused on chasing a timeline rather than focusing on the contribution that one makes and the self-development in this journey of discovery,” says Dr Naicker. 

His supervisor was Prof Alvin J Munsamy from University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) and co-supervisor Dr CB Written from the UFS.  

Need for educational expansion

His research was focused on establishing a framework for postgraduate programmes in specialty fields of optometry for South Africa. The investigation was carried out with practising optometrists as the primary stakeholders and with optometric academics as the custodians for education and training in the country.

“With an overwhelming need for educational expansion found in this investigation, a conceptual framework was proposed as the innovation to take the profession forward in South Africa. Improving patient care from being upskilled and receiving professional recognition for the additional competencies and proficiencies that would be gained, was the motivating factors identified by optometrists to consider further education and training,” says Dr Naicker.

According to him, being in the educational fraternity for almost two decades and as a former education committee member of the professional board of optometry, he was able to see where the shortcomings were in the profession which set him on this path to pursue this research. With most optometrists in clinical practice and no clinical postgraduate qualifications available except pure research-based qualifications in SA, Dr Naicker explains that this hindered optometrists’ professional trajectory and career path opportunities into various special interest areas. 

“By developing a framework for horizontal articulation pathways towards coursework postgraduate qualifications in various clinical specialty fields, this would be the contribution in addressing the educational gap that would guide higher education institutions in their programme development process. The beneficiaries of this expansion would not only be the health professionals but the patients who access optometric care from the optometrists who would have advanced skills and competencies to deliver comprehensive eye care services.”

Stayed motivated

Dr Naicker says the journey to his PhD was challenging from the outset as the country went into hard lockdown due the COVID-19 pandemic just five weeks after he registered for his PhD. Working on a PhD was not a priority at the time when your survival and that of your loved ones was uncertain as thousands of people fell victim to the coronavirus. Further to this, he continues, multiple changes to his supervisory team and the overhaul and revitalisation of the administration and management of the UFS Division of Health Sciences Education, also impacted his progress in his doctoral research at that time. He had felt despondent after a year of being registered when stability arrived with supervisory assistance that re-ignited his drive to pick up the slack and keep moving forward.

“The words ‘push through it’ were verbalised to me by a stranger I met in passing.  While chatting about research I found those three words to be so profound and with such depth that they resonated with my experience of facing adversity but remaining vigilant to preservere and not drop the baton in the race against time to conclude my research. Gaslighting yourself and questioning your potential to complete a PhD only compounds your procrastination which was all too apparent. The goal is to rise above the self-doubt, brush off the devil with the fork sitting on your shoulder and just ‘push through it’.”

Dr Naicker, who is currently supervising four master’s of optometry students in their research undertaking, as well as undergraduate research projects, says he is in the process of publishing the research manuscripts generated from his PhD and is also part of a task team with the professional Board of Optometry for setting up the board exams for foreign-qualified optometrists. He would also like to work on research involving educating the educators of visually impaired learners.

News Archive

Heidedal-based foundation and UFS host inaugural music concert
2015-12-04

ROC children rock in marimba music
Photo: Valentino Ndaba

Reach Our Community (ROC) Foundation in conjunction with the University of the Free State’s Odeion School of Music (OSM) held its first-ever music concert last month. Children who form part of the foundation’s Afterschool Care programme showed their impressive music skills to their parents and guardians in attendance.

ROC provides support to orphaned and vulnerable children from early childhood through to adolescence in the Heidedal community in Bloemfontein. The foundation strives to address the challenges resulting from factors such as poverty, unemployment, HIV/Aids, single parenting, lack of guardianship, and physical and sexual abuse. In the Afterschool Care programme, the children engage in educational, cultural, and recreational activities.

Going the extra mile

Since 2008, the UFS has successfully partnered with ROC through service learning and community engagement in which students from across all seven faculties participate. Two Music Education and Practice students from the OSM took it upon themselves to continue after their curriculum requirements were met.

Amy Viljoen- now a final-year BMus student, together with fellow student, Petre du Plessis, and their lecturer and programme coordinator, Gerda Pretorius, established the music class project in Heidedal in 2014. The students embarked on weekly trips to ROC, and would spend an hour working on the recorders and marimbas with children from ROC.

This year, Viljoen and Kara-Lynn Crankshaw, a final-year BA Music student, spent eleven months teaching the children music practice and theory, culminating in a concert that both the community and students can be proud of.

“I wanted to do something that was not only meant for educational purposes, but to give back to the community,” said Viljoen.

After having to gather extra chairs because of the influx of community members at the ROC hall, the founder, Patrick Kaars, said he had not expected such a turn-out. “It exceeded my expectations, and it was a dream come true. It meant so much to the children to be exposed to music, and to explore their own capabilities and talents.”

More children will learn how to play other instruments. Currently, the instruments used for the children’s training were purchased second-hand in order to cut costs. New music education specialists, who will join the programme in 2016, will also work with Pretorius to gather additional equipment, and compile learning material.

Kaars is also thrilled about the potential expansion to the music group, now that the concert has become an annual event. The OSM is also in the process of establishing a Centre for Music Development at ROC.

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