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Faculty of Health Sciences Dean’s medal winner already has her eyes on next degree

14 April 2025 | Story André Damons | Photo André Damons

Health Sciences Medal winners — Three of the Dean’s medal winners: Celine Taute, Angelique Johnson and Dr Monique Davidson after the graduation ceremony.

It was a big week for the newest University of the Free State (UFS) graduate, Angelique Johnson, who not only graduated with a Bachelor of Medical Science Honours in Pharmacology degree with distinction, but she was also awarded the Dean’s medal in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the university’s April graduation ceremonies.

Only a day before crossing the graduation stage on Friday 11 April, Angelique was also awarded the UFS Faculty of Health Sciences floating trophy for achieving the best results in respect of a bachelor honours degree in the faculty.

“It’s honestly an honour. Receiving the Dean’s Medal feels surreal — it’s a reminder that the effort I put in didn’t go unnoticed. It’s also motivating and makes me feel proud to represent my faculty in such a positive way.

“Graduating with distinction feels incredibly rewarding — it’s a validation of all the late nights, hard work, and perseverance. Achieving this required discipline, time management, and a genuine passion for the material. I also leaned on a strong support system and made sure to stay consistent throughout the academic year,” says Angelique.

Dean’s Medal winners

The Dean’s medal was also awarded to Celine Taute, Alexander van Wyk and Dr Monique Davidson who all graduated last year. Taute, who graduated with a Bachelor of Medical Science with specialisation in Radiation Sciences degree (obtained with distinction), was awarded the Dean’s medal for achieving the best results as a third-year student. Van Wyk graduated with Bachelor of Biokinetics degree with distinction and received the Dean’s medal for achieving the best results as a fourth-year student while Dr Davidson received was awarded for obtaining the best results as a fifth-year student.

Dr Davidson graduated with the degree Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery with distinction. Just like Johnson, Dr Davidson, Taute and Van Wyk was also awarded the faculty’s floating trophy for achieving the best results in their respective study years at Thursday’s (10 April 2025) prize-giving ceremony.

Driven by passion

According to Angelique, she will now pursue an MBChB degree as her passion for medicine drives her to go beyond simply making small changes — she wants to create a meaningful, lasting impact. “To borrow and adapt the words of Prof Gert van Zyl, Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, I don’t just aim to create ripples or waves in the field of healthcare — I aspire to create a tsunami of positive change in people’s lives and in the medical profession.”

In 2023 she completed a BSc in Human Physiology (cum laude) from the University of Pretoria (UP). She decided to enrol for an Honours in Pharmacology degree after developing a strong interest in how the body responds to different substances, especially at the cellular and molecular levels.

“Pharmacology felt like a natural extension of that curiosity — it dives deeper into the mechanisms of drug action and how they can be used to treat disease. I wanted to better understand how physiological processes can be manipulated for therapeutic benefit, and pharmacology offered the perfect balance between science and real-world medical application,” she concludes.

Provide comfort

According to Celine, both the Dean’s medal as well as the awards came as a big surprise because she did not set out to achieve them. “I feel immensely blessed and thankful. Things that are worth it, require some sacrifices.”

“I am so grateful. I set out to do my best and trusted that God would sort out the details. Discipline and hard work were key in my success. A person is not an island, so having family that always believed in me even when I didn't, helped me get through those tough exams,” says Celine.

Celine, who is currently busy with an honour’s degree whereafter she will embark on a two-year internship, says she chose to specialise in radiation as she wanted to provide comfort and education to the mostly cancer patients and their families who radiation treatment can help.

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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