Welcome to the University of Pretoria's Health House page! Health House is unique in many ways, the first being its composition. Health House is made up of its 8 subhouses i.e Pulse (Medicine), Nursing, BCMP, OT, Physio, Dentistry, Radiography and Dietetics. Sports Sciences will soon join our ranks. Each of these subhouses represent their specific degree programme with the chair of each committee standing on what is referred to as the Health House Board. The purpose of this Board has been to act as an umbrella body, a way of linking the different subhouses as well as opening a channel between the students and faculty administration. As the 2014/2015 board, we have taken a far more active approach, having successfully launched several new projects this year with more still planned. Our goal for the term, is to start a process of unifying our faculty, while baring in mind our responsibilities to the student body and maintaining a standard of excellence in our individual subhouses. Unifying a faculty is no small feat and certainly not one that can be achieved overnight however, it all starts somewhere. As a board, we have come together as a team, the next step was to bring together the subhouse committees which was accomplished through means of the very first Health House Camp earlier this year. Next is to bring together the student body. An ambitious ask by any means but one which is certainly possible. So the next question, why? As students in our faculty, we pass each other everyday in the corridors, sit next to each other in the cafeteria, even stand around the same bed, helping to treat the same patient, yet we never interact. We have so much in common. As individuals we have committed our lives to learning and practising the care of others and as future professionals, we will one day need to work together. Building a culture of mutual respect takes a long time and now is the ideal time to foster these ties and ensure that no qualification deems themselves better than another. It all starts with a smile, a greeting, maybe even a handshake. Having the courage to be the one to say "Hi, my name is...what's yours?" Through this newsletter and projects like it, we aim to make the various subhouses firstly aware of each other, what each does and in the long-term foster respect through understanding and a unified faculty. We will try our best to advertise all the upcoming events and post photos afterwards. You are always welcome to send us feedback and new ideas - it will be much appreciated
{Be the change you want to see}
The UP Health House Team
