Abstract
Background: In 2005, the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) extended the duration of the internship programme to ensure that all young medical graduates are adequately prepared to work at a district hospital during their year of community service. King Edward VIII hospital (KEH) is an HPCSA accredited training hospital, which has been training interns for many years. The aim of this study was to assess intern perceptions of their training at the hospital.Methods: This cross-sectional, descriptive study was conducted at KEH in November 2016. A questionnaire was used to collect data, which were analysed descriptively.Results: Only 53% of interns completed the questionnaire. Although teaching and supervision were provided in all domains, perceptions of the quality ranged from excellent to poor. The majority of interns worked the 64–80 hours per month commuted overtime as required by the HPCSA. However, less than 10% expressed positive views regarding the condition of the facilities and infrastructure.Discussion and conclusions: The findings of this study were generally positive with regard to teaching, supervision and hours worked, mostly in accordance with the requirements of the HPCSA. However, a response rate of 53% as well as the single location of the study may limit generalisability and a larger study involving interns across the country is recommended.
Highlights
Introduction and backgroundCurrent medical training in South Africa (SA) involves six years of instruction at university, followed by a two-year internship at a Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) accredited training facility
In 2005, the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) extended the duration of the internship programme to ensure that all young medical graduates are adequately prepared to work at a district hospital during their year of community service
Guidelines are provided by the internship subcommittee of the HPCSA to the interns and the training institutions concerning the level of supervision that must be provided; teaching responsibilities of the training institution; need to provide guidelines for managing common conditions, number of hours that interns can work each week, provision of suitable on-call facilities, and other issues that relate directly or indirectly to training interns.[4]
Summary
Current medical training in South Africa (SA) involves six years of instruction at university, followed by a two-year internship at a Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) accredited training facility. This is followed by one year of community service before medical healthcare professionals (HCPs) can be registered as independent medical practitioners.[1,2]. In 2005, the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) extended the duration of the internship programme to ensure that all young medical graduates are adequately prepared to work at a district hospital during their year of community service. A response rate of 53% as well as the single location of the study may limit generalisability and a larger study involving interns across the country is recommended
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
