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UFS launches two public health programmes

31 October 2024 | Story André Damons | Photo André Damons

What started seven years ago as a dream, came to fruition in October 2024, when the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of the Free State (UFS) officially launched two new programmes, the Master of Public Health and PhD Public Health in the Division of Public Health (DPH).

In his welcome address, Prof Gert van Zyl, Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, said it is a significant milestone launching these particularly important programmes in the faculty. The launch took place on 24 October 2024 at the James Moroka Building on the Bloemfontein Campus. These programmes are dedicated to recognising and responding to complex national and global public health challenges through high-quality research, teaching and learning, and engaged scholarship.

Prof Bonang Mohale, UFS Chancellor, and Dr BE Mzangwa, Acting Deputy Director General of the Free State Department of Health and CEO of the Universitas Academic Hospital, were also in attendance, while Mr Ramphelane Morewane, Deputy Director General of HIV/AIDS, TB, Maternal and Child Health, in the National Department of Health, delivered a congratulatory message virtually.

Said Prof Van Zyl: “The vision of the public health dream in the faculty started with a small group of us having a discussion on taking public health forward. At that first meeting we already agreed on an action plan. We knew then if we kept true to this dream, we would have success, but this success would not be for us. It would be for the influence of the lives of many postgraduate students that will enrol in the programmes in this division and uplift themselves by getting a quality and relevant qualification. Ready to serve the bigger community.

“For those who are part of the vision of the public health dream, remember the dream and vision, continue with the collaborative efforts and spirit, remain committed to the dream and do everything that is needed to allow it to excel, and never forget the core values we embraced at the beginning when we started this dream,” said Prof Van Zyl.

Addressing public health challenges

Prof Anthea Rhoda, Acting UFS Vice-Chancellor and Principal, said in a video message that the launch marks a significant milestone symbolising the beginning of an academic endeavour aligned with Vision 130, which emphasises academic excellence, quality and impact.

“Today’s launch represents a crucial step in the Faculty of Health Sciences’ commitment to address public health challenges within our communities, nationally, as well as globally. It also represents a crucial step in the University of the Free State’s dedication to tackling public health challenges that are prevalent in our communities.

“The Division of Public Health aspires to be engaging, diversifying public health through innovative, global responsive research. Public health, as is common knowledge, is the study and practice of safeguarding and improving the well-being of individuals and community. It includes the promotion of healthy lifestyles, the prevention of diseases and efforts to control infectious illnesses,” said Prof Rhoda.

She said it should be remembered that public health encompasses more than a simple field of study, it’s a commitment to service, and a promise to make a positive impact in the world. She is confident that this new programme will contribute significantly to the academic prestige of the UFS and will be a source of innovative solutions to the complex health challenges of the times.

Programmes in high demand

According to Prof Joyce Tsoka-Gwegweni, Vice-Dean: Research, Transformation, and Marketing and Head of the DPH, they only enrolled the first cohort of students in the second semester of 2023.

“During that time, we enrolled six Master of Public Health students and 14 PhDs. This year we enrolled 26 students, 13 in each programme. Currently we have 46 students. 19 Masters’ of Public Health and 27 PhD students, of which 90% are black female students. We also have international students from Lesotho, Namibia and Kenya. The quality of our students is very high. They are already working in health-related institutions and most of them are in leadership positions.

“For the coming year, 2025, we have already received 224 applications for the Master of Public Health programme and 30 for the PhD. We can only accommodate 30. Our programmes are already in high demand nationally and on the continent. They address a range of public health topics of national and international importance,” said the Vice-Dean.

Prof Tsoka-Gwegweni said because of the quality of staff and the quality and relevance of the programmes, their multidisciplinary nature, sustainability, and responsiveness to local, national and global public health challenges, these programmes are contributing to the UFS vision of achieving academic excellence, quality and impact; maximum societal impact with sustainable relationships; and of achieving a diverse, inclusive equitable university.

Health and prevention are primary

Prof Geoffrey Setswe, the Managing Director of the Aurum Research Institute, delivered the keynote address, saying public health, unlike medicine and nursing is not about treating individual patients, but focuses on the maintenance of promotion of health at a population level. Health and prevention are primary. He also talked about the public health pathways and career options in this field.

The best-known elements of public health, he said, are health promotion, environmental health, surveillance, communicable disease prevention, communication, health equity, emergency preparedness, harm reduction and home visiting programmes.

“The South African public health system is rebuilding itself and working to enhance health and well-being by implementing the NHI that will enable access to high quality, people-centred and integrated health care for all South Africans. Public health training must have multisectoral applications for public health careers, specialisation and advanced education providing life experiences and related expertise for people with diverse origins and ethical motivations,” he said.

According to Prof Setswe, this model will help in the training of public health professionals to deal with the quadruple burden of communicable diseases (HIV, TB, sepsis), non-communicable diseases (cancers, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases), injuries from crime and violence (including GBV), and mental health (including depression, para-suicide, risk behaviour, harmful substance abuse) and maternal and child health.

Click to view document Click and watch the official launch below:

Prof Bonang Mohale, UFS Chancellor, also attended the launched the new Division of Public Health programmes.

Prof Geoffrey Setswe, the managing director of the Aurum Research Institute delivered the keynote address.

Prof Joyce Tsoka-Gwegweni, Vice-Dean: Research, Transformation, and Marketing and Head of the DPH, gave a short history of the DPH.

News Archive

Three receive PhD degrees in Architecture at Winter Graduation ceremony

2015-07-08

Dr Hendrik Auret, Dr Gerhard Bosman and Dr Madelein Stoffberg.
Photo: Leonie Bolleurs

Video: Winter graduation ceremony

Three graduates from the University of the Free State’s (UFS) Department of Architecture received their PhD degrees at the 2015 Winter Graduation ceremony on the Bloemfontein Campus. According to Prof Walter Peters from Architecture, this is the first time in the history of the UFS that three PhD degrees in Architecture have been awarded simultaneously. It is country-wide a rare occurrence for three PhDs to be awarded in Architecture at one graduation ceremony.

“Previously, the UFS has only ever awarded a single PhD in Architecture, and that was in 1987, to Leon Roodt, a former head of the department. The first UFS honorary doctorate in Architecture was conferred on Gerard Moerdijk, architect of the Afrikaner church and the Voortrekker Monument. Gawie Fagan and Prof Bannie Britz, late head of the Department of Architecture, were other recipients of an honorary doctorate in Architecture,” said Prof Peters.

At the 2015 Winter Graduation ceremony, the UFS conferred PhDs in Architecture on Hendrik Auret from Roodt Architects in Bloemfontein as well as on Gerhard Bosman, and Madelein Stoffberg from the UFS Department of Architecture.

Dr Hendrik Auret

As an Architecture student at the university, Dr Auret obtained the degree BArchStud in 2004, a BArchStud (Hons) in 2005, and a March (Prof) in 2006, all cum laude. His Master’s design dissertation was judged the best from all South African Architecture learning sites, earning him the coveted ‘Corobrik Architectural Student of the Year’ award.

The work of the Norwegian architect and theorist, Christian Norberg-Schulz, served as the basis of Dr Auret’s PhD thesis, Care, place and architecture: a critical reading of Christian Norberg-Schulz’s architectural interpretation of Martin Heidegger’s philosophy, which considered the cogency of Norberg-Schulz’s architectural ‘translation’ of the German philosopher Heidegger’s thinking.

Dr Gerhard Bosman

On obtaining his BArchStud. and BArch degrees at the university in 1993 and 1995 respectively, Dr Bosman immediately joined the part-time staff of the Department of Architecture. As a lecturer in Building Construction, he developed an interest in vernacular and indigenous methods and techniques. Consequently, he built the first family home in Bloemfontein, for his wife, Debbie, and their two children, of earth construction, which been previously but erroneously considered inferior.

Despite that negative perception, Dr Bosman persuade the university to allow him to undertake post-graduate studies at the International Center for Earth Architecture (CRATerre-ENSAG) within the Ecole d' Architecture de Grenoble, France, from which institution,he was awarded the DPEA-Architecture de Terre qualification in 2000. In 2001,Dr Bosman was appointed to the full-time staff.

In 2003, when the opportunity arose, he became involved with SANPAD, the South Africa-Netherlands Research Project on Alternatives in Development, which lead ultimately to his PhD thesis: The acceptability of earth-constructed houses in central areas of South Africa.

Dr Madelein Stoffberg

In 2005, Dr Stoffberg enrolled as an Architecture student at the UFS, obtaining her BArchStud degree in 2007, the BArchStud (Hons) in 2008 and the March (Prof) in 2009, the latter cum laude. Immediately on graduating, Dr Stoffberg was appointed to her position as a part-time junior lecturer in the Department of Architecture.

During her studies, her attention was drawn to the concept of the spatial triad of Henri Lefebvre. Fascinated with the conceptand by the development of community centres as a contemporary architectural typology, she began her PhD degree.

Entitled Lived reality, perception and architecture: two community centres interrogated through the lens of Lefebvre’s spatial triad, Dr Stoffberg investigated the relationship between the spatial understanding of the project architect and the community of two completed buildings in Port Elizabeth. She established a mismatch in perception, representation, and use of space, which could be bridged, however, by way of a qualitative research approach, instead of a quantitative one.

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