This is the news blog for the Department of Psychiatry
At the Stellenbosch University December 2022 graduation ceremony, the Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences had 3 PhD graduates: Dr Jaiyeola A. Kajero investigated the potential attenuating effects of cannabidiol (CBD) on antipsychotic-induced vacuous chewing movements, behavioural and biochemical aberrations, and cognitive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia…
Dr’s Carine Gagiono and Menasia Patterson joined the MMed (Psychiatry) programme in August 2022. Dr. Gagiano completed her BCur (Nursing) degree at Stellenbosch University (SU) in 2007. She soon realized that she wanted to be a doctor so she applied for MBChB 4 years consecutively at SU. In 2013…
Dr. Stéfan du Plessis is a clinician scientist who specializes in MRI neuroimaging with related software and hardware development and has over ten years of experience in the field. He received his MBChB from Stellenbosch University in 2005. In 2019 he completed his PhD, where he investigated the impact of…
Dr’s Angus Byers, Jessica Kew, Anmari van Dyk, and Elle Visser joined the MMed (Psychiatry) programme in February 2022. Dr. Byers completed his MBChB at Stellenbosch University in 2012, thereafter he did his two years of internship at the East London Hospital Complex. From 2015 to 2017 Dr Byers…
Dr. Dominique Eugene, Ph.D., is a multicultural Haitian American who has been residing in Cape Town since October 2021. She is an early career clinical psychologist, a licensed marriage and family therapist, a registered play therapist, a certified trauma specialist, and an infant-family and early childhood mental health specialist focused…
Mindfulness is an inherent human capacity that can be cultivated intentionally through attending to personal phenomena (e.g. sensations, thoughts and feelings) and moving through the present moment with an attitude of kindness, curiosity and non–judgment. The formalisation of mindfulness as a clinical approach has received increasing attention in the last decade…
“I am currently a final year registrar, having joined the department in 2018. I was drawn to psychiatry initially by the necessity in this field to get to know your patients. Psychiatric practice is an art in which one creates space for people to share deep secrets and find healing.…
Dr. Rowe and Dr. Thosago joined the MMed (Psychiatry) programme in 2021 – catching up after their 1st years as registrars in the Department of Psychiatry, SU. Dr. Kirsten Rowe Dr. Rowe grew up in Cape Town and matriculated with provincial awards in Music and Latin. From a young…
(L to R: S. Maharaj, K. Rowe, C. Schumann, C. Lochner, M. Bowers, L.L van den Heuvel, P. Steyn, A. Lachman) As 2021 comes to an end, and as is customary in the Department of Psychiatry, we have honoured members of the department and broader SU who have made…
As we fast approach the end of 2021, we are also fast approaching the two-year mark since COVID-19 first affected us all. On the one hand, the impact that this pandemic has had on all of our lives is truly profound and underscores painful and increasing inequalities — on the…