Valuing Our Stories - Dean Lionel Green-Thompson

The Faculty of Health Sciences is embarking on a project called Valuing Our Stories. Part of this journey is to locate stories in the broader story of the University of Cape Town, and especially in the Faculty of Health Sciences. The Dean invites you tell your story in the format of video, writing, podcast or art.

Welcome to a dynamic Faculty of Health Sciences space which promises to animate our commitment to Valuing Our Stories

 

We are the inheritors of a distinguished legacy and multifaceted heritage. We each have a varied experience of that heritage which marks who we are and who we are constantly becoming. This site is a space for recalling, for listening with compassion and for learning new lessons of how we can become in a shared and complex future.  

Valuing Our Stories is an attempt to unravel the complexity of our past and commit to a constantly renewing present. The objective of this project is to develop a digital collection of stories upon which our knowledge is created and recreated. You are all invited as members of the Faculty collaborative — staff or student, past or present — to express yourself in the form of video, writing, podcast or art in a way that is true to your spirit. All are invited, whether you have lived through the difficult experiences or saw what was happening and have reflected on it in retrospect.

Join us on this journey which deepens our stories and sharpens our vision towards health equity.

Alumni Stories

Valuing Our Stories - Dr Mohammed Cassiem D’arcy

Dr Mohammed Cassiem D’arcy is a UCT medical graduate of 1963 and doctor who was denied a pathology teaching post at UCT due to his racial classification of 'Coloured.' This was despite him having received specialist training in Canada and having worked with technologies that South African scientists had not yet been exposed to. His story contextualises the institutional humiliation that 'non-White' medical professionals endured.

Valuing Our Stories - Dr Elaine Clarke

Dr Elaine Clarke is an alumna of the 1968 UCT medical class. She graduated in a time where the struggle for students of colour at UCT was significant. Dr Clarke tells a story of remarkable grit, which transforms into a vision for the future of UCT. 

Faculty Stories

Special Faculty Assembly 2002

On 9 May 2002 the Faculty of Health Sciences held a special assembly at the Baxter Theatre. This followed the findings of the Faculty of Health Sciences Truth and Reconciliation Research Process (2000-2002) to document the experiences of alumni of colour during this period. The process culminated in the Faculty Assembly in the spirit of reconciliation and the promise to nurture a more inclusive, just environment that a new charter was signed, as well as a new declaration for health care professionals. The latter is recited by students at graduation in lieu of the Hippocratic Oath.