Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items

Prof Gert van Zyl appointed Chair of SA Committee of Medical Deans

19 January 2024 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Supplied

The Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of the Free State (UFS), Prof Gert van Zyl, was appointed as the Chairperson of the South African Committee of Medical Deans (SACOMD).

Prof Van Zyl, who has been a member of the SA Committee of Medical Deans since 2001, says it is a privilege and a highlight to again serve the health sciences academic community in this very dynamic and special time for medical schools.

He is especially looking forward to working with a brilliant team of deans and leaders in SACOMD, to build on the achievements of the past, and to excel in those areas that they have collectively decided to pursue for the future.

Taking on the role of Chairperson of SACOMD once more, leading with an outstanding team and a shared vision, signifies a special moment in his career, particularly as he approaches the conclusion of a fulfilling journey as dean. During his tenure, Prof Van Zyl was dedicated to actively contributing to stakeholders in the health sciences arena, including the academic community, SACOMD, as well as staff and students at the university.

He is of the opinion that this position brings exceptional value to both the faculty and the university. “It aligns with their collective vision of academic excellence across undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and learning as well as research,” he states.

SACOMD’s strategy for 2024

The Committee’s goal is to facilitate the optimisation and transformation of academic activities in Health Sciences faculties in order to meet the healthcare, research, and social imperatives of the country.

During a strategic session held in 2023, SACOMD determined the following objectives that align with their goal. According to Prof Van Zyl, they will strive to embrace collaboration, establish trust-based relationships among its members, seek proactive and consensus-driven decision-making, share information (drawing knowledge and insights from each other) to collectively advance thought leadership, and leverage their position as an influencer for improved health sciences training and strengthened health systems.

He says there are some exciting trends in a number of areas that will play an important role in advancing medical and health sciences. This includes the role of artificial intelligence, simulation, and robotic surgery in the academic health sciences arena.

As a committee, they will also look at the establishment of work-based assessment as a requirement in the postgraduate training environment of medical specialists in South Africa, the role of higher education academia in a National Health Insurance (NHI) system, as well as improving undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and learning. “All these activities are already guided by a set of detailed actions, responsibility areas, and academic outcomes,” he says.

Furthermore, they will provide support for new medical schools in order to serve the country in producing excellent health professionals. In doing so, they plan to create a more sustainable funding environment, improve the world-class status of training in both undergraduate and postgraduate teaching, and influence important clinical training platforms to support the academic health sciences agenda.

Patients is our first priority

Although operating on a strategic level in serving the health sciences community, Prof Van Zyl also shares his thoughts with students who aspire to pursue a career in this field. “Choose a career for the right reasons. Do not forget that your patients are your first priority in everything you do. Make the most of the opportunity if you are in the privileged position to be selected to study and build a career in health sciences,” he says.

He adds that resilience is an important characteristic when deciding to pursue a career in the medical field. According to him, it is also key to be a team player, have sound mental and spiritual health, and to have compassion in everything you do as a health sciences professional.

“Play this role as a team member, with the oath you have taken and with the Declaration of Geneva’s emphasis on the welfare of patients as your compass. Live this out in your daily professional activities. You are part of a group of professionals known for healing and caring for communities. Play the role required.”

“Mother Theresa said, ‘I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.’” “Create your own ripples!” Prof Van Zyl urges aspiring medical professionals.

News Archive

“My time at the UFS was the golden gem of my career”

2016-07-04

Description: Zig Gibson Tags: Zig Gibson

Prof Alan St Clair Gibson
Photo: Oteng Mpete

“My time at the University of the Free State (UFS) was the golden gem of my career. I have worked at medical schools or biomedical research centres in the United Kingdom, United States and at some of the top medical schools in South Africa, but working at the UFS was one of the highlights of my career,” says Prof Alan St Clair Gibson, Head of the UFS School of Medicine.

After spending just over two years at the UFS, Prof St Clair Gibson resigned from the institution in June 2016 and will take up the position of Dean: Health and Human Performance Sciences at the Waikato University in New Zealand in mid-July, where he will assist to establish a new faculty for all the health-science disciplines. “It was a privilege to work at the UFS. I come from a strong research background and wanted to grow research at the university, which I achieved. I came to the UFS because of the Academic and Human Projects and am proud of what has been achieved at the School of Medicine during the time I was here,” he said.

Prof St Clair Gibson highlighted some of these achievements, including the development of a management infrastructure across the disciplines of the school. “The establishment of an executive management committee for the school, as well as research champions in departments, highlighted the importance of proper governance and strategic management. By developing data dashboards, my management team and I could develop an understanding of research income and productivity, how the school works, what the role of teaching and learning is, and how the school could benefit in terms of third-stream income from the many contracts obtained by its academic staff. As a result, contracts and the financial management model of the school have also been reconfigured to the benefit of the university so that the institution and school can benefit from it,” he said.

His strong belief in an open-door policy has made staff feel part of the environment and it has created an atmosphere of equality and inclusivity. He believes in staff development and has, for instance, established leadership and management courses for heads of departments. Another factor to be proud of is the increase in the number of young researchers who recently joined the school, such as Prof Ross Tucker, who is one of the foremost sport scientists in the country. “It is a fact that staff retire or resign in all schools and departments of any university. It is also true that these departures offer opportunities to bring new academic and professional staff into the UFS. In fact, for the first time virtually every department in the School of Medicine now has a full-time Head of Department and 46 new staff were appointed since January 2015,” said Prof St Clair Gibson.

“I am especially proud of contributing, together with the senior leadership of the UFS, to stabilise the relationship with the Free State Department of Health (DoH). With the assistance of these parties, as well as my executive management team, we could find a better way of working together to the benefit of the school and the province.’’

Transforming the student profile to be representative of the country’s demographics is another milestone Prof St Clair Gibson will remember. “The intake of black and white students is of such a nature that we now have a much more balanced ratio of black and white undergraduate students than before.”

“I wanted to stay longer to see the effect of all the changes I made at the school, but the deanship is an offer I cannot refuse. I would have liked to see a steadier increase in the number of permanent clinical staff and have worked hard with both the UFS management and the DoH to try and achieve that; but more work needs to be done.”

I have worked with a number of fantastic staff members at the school, who are determined to do good in a challenging environment. I am amazed at the energy of the university leadership and how the Human and Academic Projects are executed. My wish for the university is to maintain and grow its standards and for the School of Medicine to maintain its reputation as one of the best schools in the country. I will always be a proud alumnus of the UFS,” he said.

Back

Economic and Management Sciences

Education

Health Sciences

The Humanities

Law

Natural and Agricultural Sciences

Theology and Religion

Open Distance Learning

Business School

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept