​​Someone once said that going to university is a bit like 'stepping into the cosmos.' Everything confusing and massive. That's why the staff and current students at Stellenbosch University's (SU) Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS) went out of their way to clarify the 'complexities' often associated with its offering at its open day on 24 February 2018. The faculty - one of ten at Stellenbosch University - offers the following programmes: MB, ChB, B of Occupational Therapy, B of Speech-language and Hearing Therapy, BSc in Dietetics and BSc in Physiotherapy. The faculty also hopes to offer the B in Nursing and Midwifery programme as of 2019, which is dependent on the final accredditation of the programme by the South African Nursing Council (SANC).​

Approximately 3000 school learners from as far as Gauteng joined in the day’s activities at the faculty’s Tygerberg Campus where current students had also embarked on a project of making and showcasing bold statements about their chosen field of study at the faculty. Ms Farah Fredericks, Deputy Registrar and Head of the Centre for Student Administration (Tygerberg) said: “Our current students are our real ambassadors and they were superb. Not only did prospective students get a taste of what it could be like to study here, they also got to speak to people with first-hand working experience of the faculty’s fields of study. The professions we train students in can be seen as life journeys which contribute to our overall vision of advancing health and equality for all South Africans. It was great to exprience the interactions between our future TygerMaties and the FMHS students and staff.

Prospective students, along with their teachers and parents showed a keen interest in campus tours and demonstrations on the day. The set programme offered learners, their parents and teachers the opportunity to find out exactly which study programmes are available at the FMHS, the selection process, bursaries, accommodation as well as a general feel for student life at the Tygerberg Campus. Representatives from the Ukwanda Centre for Rural Health and the Sunloc Unit, which coordinates the logistics of the faculty’s distributed clinical training platform in the Western Cape and parts of the Eastern- and Northern Cape,  also had engaging presences on the day.