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UFS Department of Dermatology celebrates opening of Dermatologic Surgery Unit at Universitas Hospital

23 September 2025 | Story Reuben Maeko | Photo Sizwe Gwiba

Dermatology Unit — Celebrating the milestone launch of the Dermatologic Surgery Unit at Universitas Academic Hospital, a new chapter for advanced patient care, training, and research.

The Department of Dermatology in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of the Free State (UFS) marked a historic milestone with the official opening of the Dermatologic Surgery Unit at Universitas Academic Hospital on 11 September 2025. This new facility represents a significant step forward in expanding access to specialised surgical treatment for complex dermatological conditions, while simultaneously strengthening academic training and research opportunities for registrars and medical students.

The inauguration was attended by Prof Francois P Retief, a distinguished medical pioneer from the UFS Faculty of Health Sciences, after whom one of the faculty buildings is named. His wife, Ria Retief, extended words of gratitude and gifted a book from his medical library to Prof Frans Maruma, Head of the Department of Dermatology.

“We are truly honoured to be included in this significant milestone and to witness the beginning of what we know will be an impactful journey aimed at improving patient care,” Ria Retief said. “It is a privilege to celebrate this remarkable achievement with you, and we deeply admire your dedication and vision.”

Honouring a legacy in dermatology

In his opening address, Prof Maruma reflected on the journey that led to the establishment of the Dermatologic Surgery Unit, acknowledging the teamwork, persistence, and collaboration that made the vision a reality.

“The Derm-Surgery Unit is not just a surgical space – it is a testament to teamwork, perseverance, and the drive to advance patient-centred care in dermatology,” he said. “We pay homage to visionary leadership that has afforded us the opportunity to expand dermatology services to include surgery and as a skill sacrosanct to modern practice. This is not only about healing, but also about preparing our registrars for the realities of clinical practice through work-integrated learning.”

Prof Maruma extended appreciation to colleagues and staff members in the Department of Dermatology, as well as strategic partners in the UFS, the Department of Health, the pharmaceutical industry, and private practitioners who dedicate their time to teaching and mentoring. Special acknowledgement was given to Dr Marc Roscher, Dr Harriet Makuru, and Dr Yashica Khalawan, who played a pivotal role in supporting the project’s launch.

The programme also included remarks by senior academic leaders. Prof Alicia Sherriff, Acting Head of the School of Clinical Medicine, commended the department for its innovation and foresight in the face of resource limitations, highlighting the potential for further expansion through collaboration with both public and private stakeholders.

While cutting the ribbon, Prof Thabiso Mofokeng, Head of Internal Medicine at Universitas Academic Hospital, emphasised that the launch of the Derm-Surgery Unit reflects the broader ethos of the clinical platform: to enable world-class training, foster research excellence, and deliver quality healthcare that is responsive to the needs of the community.

The launch underscored the university’s commitment to Work-Integrated Learning (WIL), bridging the gap between academic training and real-world clinical demands. The Derm-Surgery initiative is designed to equip registrars with essential industry-specific skills in procedural dermatology while fostering collaboration between private and public healthcare sectors. The evening concluded with awards recognising individuals whose contributions ensured the success of this landmark opening.

Looking ahead, the Department of Dermatology envisions its Derm-Surgery Unit as more than just a clinical unit – it is set to become a hub of advanced patient care, high-impact training, and cutting-edge research. This initiative strengthens the UFS Faculty of Health Sciences’ role as a leader in medical education and healthcare innovation in the Free State and beyond.

News Archive

NRF researcher addresses racial debates in classrooms

2017-03-24

Description: Dr Marthinus Conradie Tags: Dr Marthinus Conradie

Dr Marthinus Conradie, senior lecturer in the
Department of English, is one of 31 newly-rated National
Research Foundation researchers at the University of
the Free State.
Photo: Rulanzen Martin

Exploring numerous norms and assumptions that impede the investigation of racism and racial inequalities in university classrooms, was central to the scope of the research conducted by Dr Marthinus Conradie, a newly Y-rated National Research Foundation (NRF) researcher.

Support from various colleagues
He is one of 31 newly-rated researchers at the University of the Free State (UFS) and joins the 150 plus researchers at the university who have been rated by the NRF. Dr Conradie specialises in sociolinguistics and cultural studies in the UFS Department of English. “Most of the publications that earned the NRF rating are aimed to contributing a critical race theoretic angle to longstanding debates about how questions surrounding race and racism are raised in classroom contexts,” he said.

Dr Conradie says he is grateful for the support from his colleagues in the Department of English, as well as other members of the Faculty of the Humanities. “Although the NRF rating is assigned to a single person, it is undoubtedly the result of support from a wide range of colleagues, including co-authors Dr Susan Brokensha, Prof Angelique van Niekerk, and Dr Mariza Brooks, as well as our Head of Department, Prof Helene Strauss,” he said.

Should debate be free of emotion?
His ongoing research has not been assigned a title yet, as he and his co-author does not assign titles prior to drafting the final manuscript. “Most, but not all, of the publications included in my application to the NRF draw from discourse analysis of a Foucauldian branch, including discursive psychology,” Dr Conradie says. His research aims to suggest directions and methods for exploring issues about race, racism, and racial equality relating to classroom debates. One thread of this body of work deals with the assumption that classroom debates must exclude emotions. Squandering opportunities to investigate the nature and sources of the emotions provoked by critical literature, might obstruct the discussion of personal histories and experiences of discrimination. “Equally, the demand that educators should control conversations to avoid discomfort might prevent in-depth treatment of broader, structural inequalities that go beyond individual prejudice,” Dr Conradie said. A second stream of research speaks to media representations and cultural capital in advertising discourse. A key example examines the way art from European and American origins are used to imbue commercial brands with connotations of excellence and exclusivity, while references to Africa serve to invoke colonial images of unspoiled landscapes.

A hope to inspire further research
Dr Conradie is hopeful that fellow academics will refine and/or alter the methods he employed, and that they will expand, reinterpret, and challenge his findings with increasing relevance to contemporary concerns, such as the drive towards decolonisation. “When I initially launched the research project (with significant aid from highly accomplished co-authors), the catalogue of existing scholarly works lacked investigations along the particular avenues I aimed to address.”

Dr Conradie said that his future research projects will be shaped by the scholarly and wider social influences he looks to as signposts and from which he hopes to gain guidelines about specific issues in the South African society to which he can make a fruitful contribution.

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