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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

Alexander Ramm Cello Recital with Pieter Jacobs (piano)

2016-04-15

Description: Ramm Tags: Ramm

Alexander Ramm

“Ramm plays with enormous musical authority. Unlike many young instrumentalists, he is not intimidated by the reflective or the elegiac; nor is he nervous about the length of pauses, or the creation of inter-phrase silence. He has a phenomenal technique and he demonstrated it to full effect in this captivating performance.” (Cape Times)

Alexander Ramm belongs to the new generation of cellists recognised for his appealing artistic creativity and unprecedented technical skills. Alexander started his musical education at the age of seven at the Glier music school (Kaliningrad) with Svetlana Ivanova. Her extremely serious attitude to music studies and pedagogical talent revealed the rare musical capabilities of this young cellist.

After moving to Moscow at the age of ten, he was accepted to the class of Maria Zhuravleva at the Chopin Moscow College of Music Performance. From 2007, he continued his professional education at the Moscow Conservatory in the class of the renowned musician and the People’s Artist of the USSR, Natalia Shakhovskaya, an outstanding performer and pedagogue who taught most prominent Russian cellists. Since 2012, he has become a postgraduate student at the Hanns-Eisler Hochschule fur Musik under the guidance of the famous cellist, Frans Helmerson.

From the age of nine, when he made his debut as a soloist with the Kaliningrad Chamber Orchestra, Alexander brilliantly performs with solo programmes and as a soloist with leading orchestras in Russia and worldwide.

He is prizewinner at several international competitions:
1st prize: 4th Moscow Competition for young cellists (2003)
1st prize: 1st Cambridge International Boston Competition (Massachusetts, 2005)
Grand-Prix: Moscow Festival of Romantic Music (Moscow, 2006)
4th prize: 5th UNISA International String Competition (South Africa, 2010)
1st prize: 3rd Beijing International Music Competition (Beijing 2010)
1st prize: 1st All-Russia Music Competition (Russia, 2010)
Prizewinner: Janigro Cello Competition (Croatia, 2012)
Prizewinners: Swedish Duo Competition with duo partner Anna Odintsova (2012)
3rd prize: Paulo Cello Competition (2013) – becoming the first Russian prizewinner in the history of this prestigious contest
2nd prize: XV International Tchaikovsky Competition (2015)

Alexander participated in masterclass festivals at Courchevel Academy and Holland Music Sessions, where he took lessons from the famous musicians such as F. Muller, R. Latzko, M. Kliegel and U. Wiesel. In 2011, he took part in the well-known Verbier festival, where he studied with H. Hoffmann, F. Helmerson, M. Suzuki, L. Power and F. Radosh. At the end of the festival, he was awarded the Neva Foundation top-level prize for gifted students.

Alexander cooperates with such outstanding conductors as V. Gergiev, V. Spivakov, A. Levin, K. Orbelyan, V. Polyansky, S. Kochanovsky, M. Fedotov, A. Slutsky, A. Sladkovsky.

He will be accompanied by Pieter Jacobs, a graduate of the University of Pretoria, who then furthered his studies at Yale in the United States, where he pursued his performing career with considerable success as a soloist and chamber musician in Boston, Cambridge and New Haven before returning to South Africa to perform and teach at the University of Pretoria. Pieter is regarded as one of SA’s foremost pianists and chamber musicians.

Programme:
Grieg: Cello Sonata, Op. 36 in A minor (1883)
Barber: Cello Sonata, Op. 6 in C minor (1932)
Prokofiev: Cello Sonata, Op. 119 (1949)
Piazzolla: Le Grand Tango for cello and piano

Date: 22 April 2016
Time: 19:30
Venue: Odeion
Costs: R130 (adults), R90 (pensioners), R70 (UFS staff members), R50 (students and learners), R50 (group booking of 10+). Tickets available at Computicket.

More information: Ninette Pretorius +27(0)51 401 2504.

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