The establishment of the Department of Family, Community and Emergency Care (FaCE), a new department in our Faculty is a significant milestone in our story as Faculty. FaCE will be officially launched on Wednesday afternoon, 23 August 2023. This department merges the expertise of five existing divisions: Family Medicine (FM), Emergency Medicine (EM), Sport and Exercise Medicine (SEM), Interdisciplinary Palliative Care and Medicine (IPCM), and the Primary Health Care Directorate (PHC). The launch will be preceded by the first FaCE Research Day on Wednesday, which represents an opportunity to showcase and celebrate the scholarly work produced by students and staff. 
 
The formation of FaCE is focused around “first contact” clinical care within the district health system and seeks to support and give tangible expression to the renewed vision of the Faculty: “Igniting agency for a just and inclusive society built on health equity”. 
 
The inception of FaCE is rooted in multiple historical threads and recognises the importance of the principles of health equity, health promotion, community engagement, and the social determinants of health. This department, however, has a more specific academic project which brings together an aligned group of partner disciplines and approaches that share an underpinning philosophy revolving around generalist skills, comprehensive person-centredness, and providing coordinated and integrated care across all levels of health services, whilst being grounded in the district health services. Through FaCE, the Faculty will develop a more comprehensive capacity to teach and research in the arena of family, community, and emergency care, which comprise so-called ‘first contact’ disciplines in the health sciences. The health services will gain an academic partner that is more coordinated and responsive to the needs of communities in terms of health promotion, primary and emergency care. The community of this department has already committed to the massive transformative purpose of "Building inclusive communities of care together".
 
The main motivation for creating this new department includes: organisational enhancement in terms of structure and a better fit for purpose; recognising the changing landscape within health professions education which demands a more holistic response; and taking advantage of opportunities for synergy and alignment across the breadth of the health system. 

The generalist focus of FaCE is particularly relevant for undergraduate education, which aims to produce graduates who are able to act as generalist practitioners competent in a variety of skills, knowledge and attitudes required to manage the majority of patients presenting for care in the community. At a postgraduate level, each division will continue to train medical specialists in their respective fields. The potential for collaboration on interdisciplinary projects through postgraduate learning and research supervision, as well as the possibility of a central research hub with shared resources, expertise, and support, which could lead to a community of practice, cross-disciplinarity and mentoring relationships is exciting. 
 
A new clinical department with a generalist focus on patients presenting with undifferentiated symptoms, has the potential of strengthening the Faculty's and UCT's footprint and contribution to the District Health System, by ensuring a more capacitated scholarly reach and enhanced academic project. This department can be the context for the development of an epistemology of generalism and holistic patient-centred care for the African context, in direct response to the needs of our local communities. 
 
Mutual benefits to the individual disciplines and collective academic project include a richer environment for creativity and innovation, producing graduates who are more ’fit-for-purpose', which could potentially result in better job satisfaction, staff morale and disciplinary growth. Part of the Medical and Health Humanities team will remain in the new department, where contextualised and patient-centred health practice provides the strategic environment to develop socially responsive research questions while maintaining connections with undergraduate education. 
 
The birth of FaCE represents the culmination of unfinished conversations within the Faculty over the past decade. During 2020 and 2021, the new Deanery team have embarked on this journey with key stakeholders. You can find a timeline of developments here. Please also visit the FaCE webpage and engage with the social media platforms, including the FaCE seminar series recordings. 
 
The journey ahead is exciting and the implications for our shared academic mission and the communities we serve is profound. I wish the new department all the best as they strive to make a meaningful difference in our communities. 
 
Kaise ke gangans 
Associate Professor Lionel Green-Thompson 
Dean: Faculty of Health Sciences