Taking mediation from principle to practice - project team
Carien Strydom
Carien Strydom is a senior lecturer, researcher and consultant anaesthesiologist at the University of the Free State (UFS), South Africa.
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Carien Strydom
Carien Strydom is a senior lecturer, researcher and consultant anaesthesiologist at the University of the Free State (UFS), South Africa.
She is also a qualified medical mediator from the University of Cape Town (UTC), South Africa. She has served as an examiner in the CMSA FCA Part I and Part II examinations. Her passion for risk management drives her teaching of subdomains about anaesthesiology with a focus on clinical governance, neurosurgery, regional anaesthesia, and plastic and reconstructive surgery.
She implemented and still coordinates the physician wellness initiative of her department. She believes innovation and change are essential for sustained health and development of anaesthesiology in South Africa.
Retief Strauss
Retief Strauss is a consultant anaesthetist with over 25 years’ experience in private practice in South Africa.
Retief Strauss
Retief Strauss is a consultant anaesthetist with over 25 years’ experience in private practice in South Africa.
He qualified as a mediator in medical negligence and the health sector through the UCT Faculty of Law and has been a registered mediator for the past three years. He conducts medicolegal mediations and is registered on the panel for RAF mediations, and a member of Mediation in Motion and SAMLA (The South African Medical and Legal Association).
Retief is part of the UFS Mediation Working Group that received a research grant from The MPS Foundation, entitled “Taking mediation from principle to practice.”
His primary responsibility during phase I of the research will be to liaise with private hospital groups and lobby for the inclusion of a pre-mediation clause in informed consent forms in this sector. He is also the grant manager.
Sakkie (Errol Cedric) Muller
Sakkie holds the B. Iur, LL.B., LL.M and PhD Degrees from the University of the Free State. He is also a qualified debt counsellor and mediator.
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Sakkie (Errol Cedric) Muller
Sakkie holds the B. Iur, LL.B., LL.M and PhD Degrees from the University of the Free State. He is also a qualified debt counsellor and mediator.
He was admitted as an attorney of the High Court of South Africa in 2002. He was in private practice until 2007. In 2008 he joined the UFS Law Clinic as the principal attorney. There he supervised student training and mentoring of candidate attorneys. He further provided legal services for indigent members of the community in a variety of fields including property law disputes, commercial and lease disputes, labour law, and general civil litigation.
In 2016 he was appointed as a lecturer in the Department of Public Law. He teaches the Law of Civil Procedure and the ADR module at undergraduate level. His main research focus area is mediation in the field of medico-legal disputes which was also the topic of his PhD thesis. He supervises postgraduate students on mediation related topics and has also published on the topic.
Bianca Hartslief
Bianca Hartslief is a Senior Anaesthesiology Registrar at the University of the Free State.
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Bianca Hartslief
Bianca Hartslief is a Senior Anaesthesiology Registrar at the University of the Free State, with recognised academic merit, a broad scope of clinical experience, and a growing interest in systems-based practice, leadership, and medical ethics.
Her clinical foundation was shaped in high-acuity, resource-constrained settings giving rise to her comprehensive and patient-centred approach to anaesthetic practice. Bianca's research involvement reflects a broader commitment to improving clinical standards with research interests extending to medical mediation, systems-level change in healthcare delivery, and the interface between ethics and clinical decision-making.
She is a published author and has contributed to peer-reviewed academic platforms. Her work is informed by a collaborative ethos and a long-term vision of advancing patient safety and healthcare quality through both clinical practice and health systems engagement.
Heleni Truter
Dr Heleni Truter is a registrar in anaesthesiology at the University of the Free State.
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Heleni Truter
Dr Heleni Truter is a registrar in anaesthesiology at the University of the Free State, holding diplomas in mental health, anaesthesiology, and emergency medicine. With a keen interest in medicolegal mediation, she is an active member of the UFS working group titled "Taking Mediation from Principle to Practice," aiming to integrate mediation into clinical and academic practice and educating future doctors on its benefits.