Faculty of Dentistry
Faculty of Dentistry
P r o f e s s o r s u d e s h n i n a i d o o t o P ac h i e v e r
D r P r i s c i l l a B r i j l a l r i s i n g s ta r
Importance of evaluating where to invest your energy most PROFESSOR Sudeshni Naidoo was promoted to Senior Profes- teaching and support; and intensified — doing more of the same sorship based on a proven research and mentorship record, thing). This caused both intellectual and health challenges for contribution to curriculum development, teaching excellence, de- women. partmental and faculty leadership, and service to academic and When asked what the hardest thing about dealing with the panprofessional fields locally, nationally and internationally. demic has been, Prof Naidoo admits that “the transition towards Today, she is an Emeritus Professor at the University of the West- online teaching has been an unwelcome distraction to the proern Cape as well as the Director of the World Health Organigress of writing and research during this time. sation Collaborating Centre for Oral Health. “Spending more time online teaching leaves you Her main research focus areas include infecwith less time for research. Organising ontious diseases and infection control; ethline seminars and supervising students ics, bioethics and research ethics; using digitally are obstacles to writing and information technology for teledenpublishing productivity. tistry; as well as trauma and child “There has also been an increase abuse. in the time needed for gen“For many women already jugeral admin, which has been gling ‘double burdens’ or ‘seca hindrance to conducting ond shifts’, the pandemic shatrobust research. There are tered the precarious, fragile delays in the administrabalance between their protive processes, such as fessional and personal lives. the registration and ethical Routines were upended. clearance of research proDaily habits have completely jects (due to the reduced changed; homes suddenly number of Senate Higher became workplaces and Degrees and Research childcare spaces.” Committee meetings) and She sums up the current situabecause of the inability to tion by observing that women’s collect data, carry out laboparticipation in academic life has ratory work, face-to-face inbeen severely threatened. terviews, observational studies, “The disruptions caused by the Covetc.” id-19 pandemic have endangered the The pandemic helped her realise engagement, experience and retention how important it was to continuously of women in academia, making jobs more evaluate where she needed to invest her precarious than before. This has caused much energy most. anxiety and stress, especially since the demand for “I was careful to engage with and prioritise self-care academic performance from university management continues for my mental and physical health. Essentially, the balance of a as normal.” good quality of life together with a healthy work-life centred on This view is reinforced in a study conducted by Professor Jona- more effective time management, stress management, keepthan Jansen and his team entitled Gening my husband and family members der Inequality in the Shadow of Covid-19. happy, and ensuring the sustainable “I was careful to engage with and They showed that there was a dramatic prioritise self-care for my mental and management of my professional and increase in the academic and adminpersonal lives. These were useful physical health.” istrative workload for women working techniques that helped me integrate under lockdown conditions (additional work-life-family commitments.”
Personal sacrifices needed to sustain balance during Covid-19 DOCTOR Priscilla Brijlal is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Den- training on patients. tistry and Head of Department of Oral Hygiene. She has exten- “The greatest challenge is the anxiety of being around people, sive expertise in the area of dental education, clinical practice patients and within a hospital setting where Covid-testing and and oral health promotion in South Africa. hospitalisation is in progress. Furthermore, the donning of perThe sudden shift to an online teaching environment was a huge sonal protective wear such as N95 masks with another surgical adjustment for her, like for so many others. “Facing the dawn of mask beneath, facial screens, head and foot gear, does not make an online-only work space was a significant shift for me. UWC is it easier. It is an incredibly challenging time for everyone in the a contact university and because of the clinical field I work in, it health sector. was a huge challenge making the shift; navigating the online “We work long clinical shifts and stand for all this time. Before space and being creative in the way we presented leaving the office, we have to change into our own lectures, assessments and attended meetings. clothing, which we again remove before enter“Although I am 20 years into lecturing, oning the house. Amidst all the commitments line preparation and teaching posed of home and work, death is looming many challenges as we transitioned over us in the workplace and in our from the traditional classroom families. We just have to support method we were accustomed to. each other to get by each day. I We had to learn fast and adapt draw strength from my family to the new changes instantaneand friends, while looking out ously. Furthermore, there was for those in need. no structure to the day. Work“A healthy work-life balance ing hours went into the night. was not much of a possibilIt was a challenge trying to ity over the last year – and get a system going at home women have had to make and it often led to exhaustion personal sacrifices to sustain and frustration.” any kind of balance. Like many of her colleagues, “I am at work every day at the Dr Brijlal believes that women Tygerberg Oral Health Cenhave been disproportionately tre, while my family work from affected by the pandemic. In the home. I still do the chores and initial months of the lockdown, cooking before I leave home. she worked from home, along with “I have had to cut corners to sustain the whole family and without a regular my sanity — cutting my prayer time, domestic worker to share the workload. drastically reduced my sleep time and “Women in general have household and often skipping meals and also my exercise childcare related responsibilities, in addition to time, just to keep house and up to date with workplace responsibilities. Apart from the daily rework. sponsibilities, the health of women is “I had to make peace with myself and more profoundly affected as they are slowly began to realise that whatever child-bearing, child-rearing and are fur- “I have had to cut corners to sustain my I am destined to do as a householder ther subjected to hormonal changes at sanity — cutting my prayer time, drasti- and a teacher, is my karma and my different life stages. cally reduced my sleep time and often prayer. My prayer is inherent in what I “In the absence of my helper, the day do to help the lives of others. skipping meals and also my exercise “My current goals are to ensure unstarted with household chores, making the breakfast, cleaning up and then go- time, just to keep house and up to date dergraduates and postgraduates coming online — either teaching, attending plete their studies in the minimum time, with work.” meetings or preparing online lectures. without having to experience major This was followed by preparation of challenges during this difficult period. the lunch meals and doing more household chores, going online These are more important than my own needs right now. again and then preparing for dinner. It was cleaning, cooking, eat- “I still have a desire to become an Associate Professor, however, ing and working — three times a day, for months.” the road is not easy and the avenues to facilitate this process Once the staff and students began returning to the faculty in a have been put on hold because of the overwhelming changes I phased approach, Dr Brijlal had to resume clinical teaching and currently encounter to get by each day.”
