UCT Faculty of Health Sciences

This Mental Illness Awareness Month, we’re making mental health skills training more accessible.

In South Africa, approximately 30.3% of people will experience a mental disorder in their lifetime. To raise awareness and support mental health capacity-building, we’re offering 30.3% off selected short courses throughout July.

Courses included:
• Psychological First Aid – 3 July
• Basic Counselling Skills – 10th July
• Basic HIV Counselling – 17th July

Whether you work in healthcare, education, social services, community work, or simply want to better support others, these practical courses are designed to equip you with essential helping skills.

Registration is now open for July courses.
For more information or to register now, visit https://lnkd.in/dWEqpgxF

Limited spaces available.

Congratulations to Professor Jonny Peter (Department of Medicine and University of Cape Town Lung Institute), Dr Sharief Hendricks (Department of Human Biology), Professor Sudesh Sivarasu (Department of Human Biology), Associate Professor Shakti Pillay (Department of Paediatrics and Child Health) and Associate Professor Laura Heathfield (Department of Pathology), who were named as finalists in the 2025/2026 National Science and Technology Forum (NSTF)-South32 Awards.

Widely regarded as South Africa’s “Science Oscars”, the NSTF-South32 Awards recognise excellence in science, engineering, technology and innovation.

Our Faculty of Health Sciences colleagues are five among the nine UCT academics and research groups to qualify as finalists. Read more: https://www.news.uct.ac.za/article/-2026-06-11-uct-celebrates-nine-science-oscar-finalists.

📢 Registration is open for the short course Essential Steps in Managing Obstetric Emergencies (ESMOE) presented from 25 to 26 June 2026.

This two-day ESMOE Training for Midwives aims to address the critical skills shortage and improve maternal and newborn outcomes.

This course is designed and presented by the Division of Nursing and Midwifery at UCT, in collaboration and consultation with Dr Jason Marcus in the UCT Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

Entry requirements: applicants need to be registered with the South African Nursing Council as a General Nurse and Midwife.

Apply now
Registration link: https://lnkd.in/eGZWbnN7
More information: https://lnkd.in/etuAecTg

For enquiries, please contact the Continuing Education Unit at the University of Cape Town: [email protected]

📢 Advance your professional skills this June with the UCT Faculty of Health Sciences Continuing Education Unit.

The June 2026 course calendar includes short courses and workshops in counselling, case management, ICD-10 coding, global surgery, anatomy and physiology, HIV counselling, behaviour change, obstetric emergencies and health systems topics.

Courses are offered online, in person or in specialised training venues, making it easier for health professionals and students to find learning opportunities that suit their schedules.

📅 View the full course calendar here: https://lnkd.in/dbqHj8DG

✉️ For enquiries, please contact the Continuing Education Unit at the University of Cape Town: [email protected]

The Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) at the University of Cape Town (UCT) hosted a first-of-its-kind symposium on the use of race in health sciences on 16 February 2026. The purpose of this symposium was to foster dialogue and shared learning on the role of racial language in shaping health sciences education, research and practice.

We are delighted to share the full report with you: https://health.uct.ac.za/sites/default/files/media/documents/health_uct_ac_za/54/symposium-report.pdf.

📢 Registration is open for the short course Fundamentals of Behaviour Change on 24 June 2026 [Hybrid]

This short course introduces professionals to the foundational principles of behaviour change and behavioural science. It is designed to build a practical understanding of what drives human behaviour and how to encourage positive change across individual, team, and system levels.

The course covers key foundations of behaviour change, balancing conceptual understanding with applied learning.

The course can be attended in-person or online.

Apply now:
Registration link: https://lnkd.in/dnFeffaQ
More information: https://lnkd.in/dmuZehw4

For enquiries, please contact the Continuing Education Unit at the University of Cape Town: [email protected]

📢 Registration is open for the Basic HIV Counselling short course on 19 June 2026 [Hybrid]

The Basic HIV counselling course provides participants with a framework that will cover the main goals of HIV counselling, as well as take note of important risk factors when delivering counselling.

This course is ideal for you if you are a social worker, psychologist, nurse, research worker, community health worker, lay counsellor or any cadre of staff working in the HIV field.

Participants will have the option of online or in-person attendance.

Apply now to secure your place.
Registration link: https://lnkd.in/ez_Y5Ask
More information: https://lnkd.in/dRPfQdqA

For enquiries, please contact the Continuing Education Unit at the University of Cape Town: [email protected]

INVITATION REMINDER: The Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) invites you to the next inaugural lecture in the University of Cape Town Inaugural Lecture series.

Professor Jantina De Vries will deliver her inaugural lecture titled "Another world is necessary: ethics as a tool for worldmaking" on Thursday, 25 June 2026, at 18:00 SAST in the Neuroscience Institute Auditorium, Groote Schuur Hospital, Observatory.

Read more about our speaker and the lecture here:
https://health.uct.ac.za/articles/2026-06-03-uct-inaugural-lecture-professor-jantina-de-vries

To register your attendance either in-person or online, visit:
https://forms.office.com/r/qRJQ2zUE6F

We are delighted to celebrate Dr Sharief Hendricks (senior lecturer in the Department of Human Biology), who recently received not one but two accolades.

He has been appointed as a board member of the South African Institute for Drug Free Sport, a public entity that provides leadership in the development of a national anti-doping strategy in sport and implements a comprehensive drug testing programme across all of South Africa’s major sporting codes. He has also been named co-editor-in-chief of the British Medical Journal Open Sport and Exercise Medicine, one of the leading and high-impact journals within the field of sport and exercise medicine.

The two reflect his commitment to integrity in athletics and his scholarly excellence.