25 June 2009

Family of dentists polish off studies

Lieze and Christoff du Plessis will graduate at 2.30pm on Friday, June 26th, 2009.

Two members of what is fast becoming a famous family in the world of dentistry will graduate from the University of Dundee this Friday.

Lieze du Plessis (24) will receive her first class BDS honours degree, having won the Hitchin Prize for the outstanding student on her course, while her younger brother Christoff (20) will be awarded a first class intercalated BMSc degree on the same day.

The siblings are most definitely following the family tradition of excellence in the field. Their father Dicky is a general practitioner in Cambridgeshire, while their brother Kevin (28) graduated from Dundee three years ago.

The du Plessis family originally hail from South Africa, and moved to the UK in 1997. When Kevin decided he wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps, Dicky suggested he apply to the University as he had met a representative of the Dundee Dental School at a conference in Cambridgeshire and was impressed by what he heard.

Lieze, who moved to Dundee to study in 2003, explained that her older brother strongly influenced her choice of University and course. 'I used to come up here to visit Kevin I really liked Dundee, the sound of his course, and what it involved, and I just took it from there,' she said.

'I’m really delighted to be graduating. I’ve always been hard working but the fact Kevin did so well, really inspired me to do the very best I could. We’ve always been quite studious and wanted to do well, so it’s great to see it paying off today.'

'I think in the long term I’d like to work with my father at some point, as he’s a brilliant dentist, but I’ll just things as they come for just now.'

Lieze will now undertake her vocational year at a practice in Perth. She obtained the intercalated degree that Christoff will receive - a qualification designed to give the most able students experience of working in research - in 2006, at the same time as Kevin received his BDS degree.

She continued, 'It’s great that I’ve been able to graduate at the same time as both my brothers, and I suppose it’s quite unusual. Mind you, I suppose it’s quite unusual just to have so many dentists in one family!'

According to Lieze and Christoff there was no family pressure for any of them to go into dentistry, and the fact that all of them have ended up doing so has nothing to do with any lifelong plans made on their behalf.

'At one point I wanted to be an artist but I guess things change!' said Lieze. 'My dad seemed more amused than anything else when we all followed him into dentistry, as both he and our mum encouraged us to try different things and do whatever we wanted to do.'

Christoff echoed his sister’s sentiments. 'Dad always said we should consider all the options we have, to keep an open mind about what we might study, and not to do anything that we weren’t really interested in.'

'I think what influenced me was seeing how much my Dad enjoyed his work, and his enthusiasm rubbed off on me. I always thought about going into dentistry and after Kevin and then Leize did so, it felt natural for me to follow in their footsteps.'

'The BMSc was something that I had the chance to do between 2nd and 3rd year of my degree course and it’s been a fantastic experience. I found it really helpful and would definitely consider going into academia to pursue research in the future.'

Having won the Physiological Society Prize for outstanding student during his BMSc study, Christoff will now re-enter the third year of his BDS course. He is tipped for big things by Bill Saunders, Dean of Dentistry at Dundee. He said, 'It’s been a pleasure to teach Kevin, Lieze and Christoff, who have all done exceptionally well.'

'There are often members of a family who follow their parent’s footsteps into dentistry but it’s quite unusual for one family to produce so many members who have done so consistently well.'

'The fact that all three have chosen to study here reflects well on the positive reputation that the Dundee Dental School enjoys, and everyone here would like to pass on our congratulations to all three.'

Lieze and Christoff will be joined on their big day by their father and mother, Susan, who have travelled up to Dundee to help their children celebrate.

Kevin, who also obtained first class honours, still lives in Dundee and works in Perth. He married to Gosia who, unsurprisingly, is also a dentist.

For media enquiries contact:
Grant Hill
Press Officer
University of Dundee
Nethergate Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384768
E-MAIL: g.hill@dundee.ac.uk