Transform HSF
Tackling Transformation in the Faculty of Health Sciences
We believe that only by self-reflection and analysis, can we understand what went wrong in the past, in order to transform our current programmes for realizing our goals in future. Looking back does not imply dwelling on the wrongs of the past, but understanding where and how things went wrong, and acknowledging pain and injustice, in order to do things better in future.
As one of our black alumni stated,
Reconciliation will be useful if it is "A clear statement that the purpose of examining the past is not to embarrass anybody; it is to avoid the evils of the past".
Establishing the Transformation Advisory Committee
The Transformation Advisory Committee (DTAC), was created by Interim Dean Prof Gregory Hussey to spearhead faculty-wide conversations on transformation. Tasked with promoting dialogue on transformation amongst all constituencies in the Faculty, the committee was established on the 6th of May following the Special Faculty Assembly held on the 15th of April 2015.
News & Workshops
Fast-tracking professors is key to transformation
Dean-designate Bongani Mayosi outlines what can be done to grow and fast-track a new cohort of black and women professors in the Faculty of Health Sciences, using his own career path as a case study. Read more
Black Pain: White Privilege - A Themed Workshop
Affirmative Action and the invisibility of white privilege (pdf)
Race: What whiteness isn’t (pdf)
The specific documents above refer to a themed discussion on Black Pain: White Privilege, with a specific focus on medical specialist training (registrars’) experiences in the faculty.
"Rhodes Has Fallen, Now What?" - Annual Research Day
Hosted by the newly established Department of Health Sciences Education, this year’s 7th Annual Health Research Day was an historic event. A space to engage with both innovative practice and research being done in the Faculty, the Day tapped in to the on-going discussion spurred by the Rhodes Must Fall movement. Read more
Discomfort needn't be a bad thing, says new transformation special advisor
Assoc Prof Elelwani Ramugondo is UCT's newly appointed special advisor on transformation, having stepped into the post on 18 June. Ramugondo was head of the Division of Occupational Therapy (OT) until 2013, and was recently appointed the chairperson of the dean's transformation committee. Read more
“Intersections for healing work” kick-starting conversations on transformation in the Faculty of Health Sciences
On the 12th of June Faculty staff and student leadership attended a workshop on "intersections for healing work" to initiate engagement on key sub-themes identified for transforming the Faculty. Read more
Assoc Prof Elelwani Ramugondo, Chairperson of the Dean’s Transformation Committee, opens the first Faculty workshop on “intersections for healing work” with a quote by Harvard University President, Drew Gilpin Faust.
Special Faculty Assembly
A Special Faculty Assembly on Transformation in April, called for staff and students by the leadership of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) is being followed up with initiatives aimed at accelerating transformation in the Faculty. Read more
Statement on the 'Rhodes must fall' campaign by the Faculty of Health Sciences’ leadership
The leadership of the Faculty of Health Sciences, comprising the Deanery and Heads of Department, hereby states its position on the current ‘Rhodes must fall’ campaign, which has sparked unprecedented debate and activism at UCT on a scale not seen since the advent of democracy 21 years ago. Read more