Stellenbosch University

About The University
The Faculty of Health Sciences is committed to optimum health - in South Africa and on the African continent.

This commitment is dependent upon our ability to develop, within a culture of continuous learning, independent professionals who can make an indelible and positive difference to the health of all communities. It also depends upon our ability to contribute to new knowledge in health sciences through research relevant to Africa and the world as well as upon our efforts to benefit the broader community through hands-on participation and service.

The Faculty of Health Scienes comprises a large academic health complex, including the Tygerberg Academic Hospital, buildings housing clinical, educational, administrative and research facilities, as well as modern residences, and extensive sport and recreational facilities for our students. The campus also offers accommodation for international students and visiting academics and scientists.

The Faculty is led by a top management team: a Dean, three lines of Business Managers, i.e. a Deputy Dean: Teaching and Training, a Deputy Dean: Community Service and Interaction and a Deputy Dean: Research, as well as a Faculty Manager.

Since opening our doors over 50 years ago on the south-western tip of Africa, the Faculty of Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University has become an undisputed and indispensable leader in the field of health sciences in South Africa and on the African continent.

The Faculty's position in academic health is unique. Our modern infrastructure and sophisticated research facilities, combined with our interaction with communities, affected by a wide range of diseases - many of which are rarely seen in the modern-day world - present our students, researchers and clinicians with opportunities for collaborative research that contributes to an international pool of knowledge.

This knowledge build capacity in all spheres of health care, specifically on the African continent, but with important global implications.

The Faculty of Health Sciences is situated on the Tygerberg Campus in the northern suburbs of Cape Town. The campus is 35km from the town of Stellenbosch where the University has its main campus, and 20km from the Cape Town City Centre.

The Campus, adjacent to the Tygerberg Hospital, comprises a Clinical Building, the Fisan Building and an Education Block.

Education
The Faculty of Health Sciences is an institution characterised by excellent academic training programmes, founded on research of the highest quality, and well-integrated administrative and committee structures. It provides for the needs of a variety of health disciplines not only in the Western Cape but also in the rest of the Republic of South Africa.

Community Service & Interaction
Together with Research and Education, Community Service has been one of the corner-stones on which Stellenbosch University's Faculty of Health Sciences was established half a century ago.

A health sciences faculty is by its very nature an integral part of the society in which it operates - in particular through the delivery of clinical services. The FHS is no exception. However, we have recognised right from the start that, given the disease profile and health needs of our country and our continent, community interaction in the African context demands a much stronger commitment from our Faculty and a much broader definition.

A community-campus partnership exists between the Faculty and the Provincial Health Department at the various regional hospitals and district level health facilities, as well as the National Health Laboratory Services. This provides the basis for engagement, at both the strategic and operational levels, between the university and the public health service in order to improve health while at the same time educating future health care professionals. The students (both at undergraduate and post graduate level) and clinical academics engage in the health service to provide a valuable service to the community, and are able to build a base of knowledge that will serve them well in their future careers in the health care system.

During their training, health professional experience health education at all levels in the health care system through our innovative in under-served metropolitan and rural areas, community health centres, family medicine practices, mobile clinics and schools, old age homes and the homes of patients, in the heart of various communities. In this respect, Stellenbosch has made a strategic decision to ensure that 50% of clinical training occurs in the community setting (at various regional hospitals, in the district health services and community based clinics and organisations). Part of this is a rotation in a rural environment. The latter is facilitated through the Our students are also involved in voluntary community work, facilitated by the student welfare organisation, The faculty also partners with the private sector who support many aspects of teaching, training, and research.

Research
Stellenbosch University's Faculty of Health Sciences has a reputation for research built over decades of diligent and persistent effort. We continue to perform as a leading research-rich environment with extensive international collaborations, in addition to national and local partnerships. A research agenda shaped by strategic research focus areas, ensures that our research activities address the major health challenges facing the African continent.

At our Faculty young and experienced researchers are able to take advantage of a range of ongoing capacity-building initiatives, including courses in research methods, administration, ethics, grantsmanship and scientific writing. A postgraduate office provides an effective, efficient and friendly one-stop service for students undertaking higher degrees. We plan to invest even further, and with greater purpose into facilitating research, through developing and renewing research infrastructure and providing career opportunities.

In recent years, our researchers have experienced unprecedented success with respect to the acquisition of external grants. With the privilege of being able to conduct research comes the responsibility to publish. It is pleasing, therefore, that our researchers are increasingly making their mark in the international literature. Even more satisfying is the mounting evidence that their research is positively influencing health policy and practice in South Africa and beyond.

Prospective students: Undergraduate
What is it that makes the Tygerberg Campus, where the Faculty of Health Sciences is housed, such a special place for students? "It's the people," is an answer that you will hear. The Faculty's endeavour to ensure that the student population reflects the demographic profile of the country is what makes this campus a true multicultural home. The campus offers a language-friendly environment that accommodates all language groups.

Students in Health Sciences have the benefit of a student-centred support system consisting of "mentuts" (our students' own word for tutor/mentors) and a team of academics and officers, who keep an experienced eye on the academic progress and state of mind of all the students. In addition to excellent tuition in well-equipped facilities, students also obtain very good clinical experience because they get to work with patients at an early stage.

There is only one way in which to obtain access to what is offered on this campus: you need to follow a structured selection process. This measure, which limits the number of students, is prescribed by the available infrastructure and budget, job opportunities in terms of national needs, and the high demands of the programmes, which usually can only be completed successfully by students who performed above average at school.

Admission to programmes at Tygerberg Campus

For admission to any of the programmes offered at the Tygerberg Campus, potential candidates must successfully complete a structured process of selection. This measure, which restricts student numbers, is dictated by the limited available infrastructure and budget, employment opportunities according to the needs of the country, as well as the high academic demands posed by the different programmes, which are usually completed successfully only by candidates who have performed well above average at school.

• The Faculty strives towards achieving a composition of the student body which reflects the demographic profile of the applicants who meet the admission criteria. Academically disadvantaged candidates with potential can apply for admission to the Academic Development Programme which comprises appropriate remedial modules over a two-year introductory period, which only adds one year to the duration of the entire programme.
• The Faculty also strives towards a language-friendly environment that accommodates all language groups.
  

Stellenbosch University Degree Programs :

Medicine

Nursing

Physiotherapy

Review

dr victor unung

diploma in occ.medicine and diving medicine

Video Presentation

Stellenbosch University Alumni Event: Non-racialism in schools

Stellenbosch University Alumni Event: Non-racialism in schools