Parents Day at the College of Health Sciences

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The families of first-year students in UKZN’s College of Health Sciences (CHS) programmes gathered in two auditoriums on two campuses to attend Parents Day events where they heard about University procedures, their children’s wellbeing and academic opportunities.

Executive Management members and Deans and Heads of Schools addressed parents about the University and academics, while representatives from Student Support Services and Student Funding gave details on what the Institution offered first-years.

In his opening address on the Westville campus, Director for CHS Professional Services, Professor Fanie Botha, said the College was committed to producing world-class graduates through excellence in teaching and learning. 

‘Our motto: Every Student Matters, transcends the social, cultural and academic discourse across the disciplines,’ said Botha.

Parents were congratulated for supporting their children right up until they reached the milestone of tertiary education.

Applauding parents, Botha said: ‘Remember that at University your child will be competing with some of the smartest young people locally, nationally and internationally. As such, they need to apply themselves diligently. Encourage your children to start studying immediately.

Botha pleaded with parents to continue supporting their children because some of them would possibly experience failure for the first time. ‘Encourage them to recover quickly and learn from failure. If it so happens that they do fail a module, it becomes part of their permanent academic record and potential employers often examine these. Students’ social media footprint is another area noted by various employers.’

Speaking at the Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine, the Dean and Head of the School of Laboratory Medicine and Medical Sciences, Professor William Daniels, said they would train the future health professionals to be well rounded human beings.  He said the curriculum was strongly linked to the needs of the community.

The first-year MBChB students will be with Daniels for the first three years with the School of Nursing and Public Health.

‘At UKZN, students are taught by people who are at the top in their field,’ Professor Richard Hift, Dean and Head of the School of Clinical Medicine, told parents, giving them an assurance they had  sent their children to the right institution, which is motivated and moving with the times.

Hift said the Department of Health made hospitals and staff available for training UKZN Medical students. ‘The onus is on them to want to learn.’

On both campuses, the School Dean of Nursing and Public Health, Professor Busisiwe Ncama, and College Dean of Teaching and Learning, Professor Sabiha Essack, said having being accepted into CHS programmes, the youngsters were the cream of the crop.

Together with the new Dean of Health Sciences, Professor Mahmoud Soliman, the School Deans spoke about the different departments, disciplines and exciting community engagement projects that existed within the College.

They stressed the College had a strong research component and students would be introduced to research at an early stage.

Nombuso Dlamini and Lunga Memela