Medical Education In South Africa Research Articles

India's role in the odyssey of medical training in South Africa.

Apartheid had a devastating impact on medical education in South Africa. Until the development of the University of Natal Medical School in 1951, there were minimal opportunities for blacks (collectively Africans, Indians and so-called coloureds) to undertake undergraduate and postgraduate medical training in South Africa. At the height of apartheid (1968-1977), whites who had constituted 17% of the population, accounted for up to 87% of all medical graduates. The African majority, constituting 70% of the population had less than 5% of all medical graduates in South Africa. The global isolation of South Africa from the late 1940s further impacted negatively on the medical training for blacks in South Africa. During apartheid, the Government of India provided full scholarships to the marginalized in South Africa to study medicine in India. This initiative, coming at a time when India was grappling with its post-colonial challenges, was a remarkable yet seldom appreciated gesture.

A Scoping Review of Mental Health Needs and Challenges among Medical Students within South African Universities.

The mental health of medical students is a growing concern worldwide, with studies indicating high levels of stress, anxiety, and depression among this population. In a South African context, this review aims to review the existing literature on mental health needs and challenges among medical students in South Africa. The rationale for this review is crucial to identify gaps, understand unique contextual factors, and inform the development of targeted interventions and support tailored to the specific needs of South African medical students. This review followed a scoping review framework by Arksey and O'Malley which consists of five stages. The review was initiated in December 2023. The search process was conducted on the following electronic databases: PubMed, Psych-info, Scopus, Google Scholar, and Science Direct. The search terms of this review were "Medical students" OR "Mental health", OR "Challenges", OR "South Africa", OR "Universities" OR "Needs", OR "Support systems", OR "Mental health interventions". This study included articles published in English between 2010 and 2023. After a thorough review of the literature, only eight articles met the inclusion criteria. This study excluded articles that were not published in English, articles published before 2010, full-text articles that could not be retrieved, and studies that did not address the mental health needs and challenges faced by medical students and risk factors contributing to mental issues among South African medical students. The review yielded only three themes utilizing Creswell's Tesch method of data analysis. (1) Prevalence of mental health disorders, (2) risk factors contributing to poor mental health, and (3) available university support systems and interventions. Therefore, the unique aspect of our review lies in shedding light on the underexplored intersections between mental health and the unique context of medical education in South Africa. This includes examining the impact of historical, cultural, and institutional factors on the mental health and well-being of medical students, which has not been comprehensively addressed in previous literature in terms of the South African context. The findings of this review highlight the importance of implementing comprehensive mental health support programs within medical education institutions to address the needs of students and promote their well-being.

Two passions, one goal, and a pandemic: the future of medical education in South Africa

Medical education in South Africa is experiencing two major disruptions: the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the COVID-19 pandemic. I will explore the effects these events have had on our education and possible solutions in the context of our country.

Tablet technology in medical education in South Africa: A mixed methods study

Tablet technology in medical education in South Africa: A mixed methods study

Transformation of medical education through Decentralised Training Platforms: a scoping review

Medical education in South Africa is facing a major paradigm shift. The urgency to increase the number of suitable, qualified and socially accountable health sciences graduates has brought to the fore the need to identify alternative training platforms and learning environments, often in rural areas. Subsequently, the focus has now shifted towards strengthening primary health care and community based health services. This scoping review presents a synopsis of the existing literature on decentralized training platform (DTP) strategies for medical education internationally, outlining existing models within it and its impact. This scoping review followed Arksey and O'Malley's framework outlining five stages: (i) identification of a research question, (ii) identification of relevant studies, (iii) study selection criteria, (iv) data charting, and (v) collating, summarizing and reporting results. The literature for the scoping review was found using online databases, reference lists and hand searched journals. Data were charted and sorted inductively according to key themes. A final review included 59 articles ranging over the years 1987-2015 with the largest group of studies falling in the period 2011-2015 (47.5%). Studies mostly employed quantitative (32.2%), qualitative (20.3%), systematic/literature review (18.6%) and mixed methods research approaches (11.9%). The scoping review highlighted a range of DTP strategies for transforming medical education. These include training for rural workforce, addressing context specific competencies to promote social accountability, promoting community engagement, and medical education partnerships. Viable models of DTP include community based education, distributed community engaged learning, discipline based clinical rotations, longitudinal clerkships and dedicated tracks focusing on rural issues. Shorter rural placements and supplemental rural tracks are also described. This scoping review showed a considerable amount of literature on decentralized training platforms that highlight the necessary adaptations needed for transforming medical education. The rural context is critical for many of these. Further studies are required to address the impact of DTPs on health service outcomes and human resource outcomes.

Tablet technology in medical education in South Africa: a mixed methods study

ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to establish the use of mobile devices by learners at a selected medical school. Distribution of mobile devices was an inaugural initiative implemented by...

Quality assurance in undergraduate medical education: A guide for accreditation reviews

Quality assurance in medical education is a complex matter. Institutions and external critics of accreditation processes often question the objectivity of peer judgements. Members of accreditation panels similarly often feel at a loss for a lack of mechanisms to help them arrive at a collective assessment of the performance of an institution. In this study a measurement tool for the evaluation of medical education programmes was developed. Based on a literature study and participant observation a draft guide for accreditation visits was compiled, and used as data collection instrument in (individual and focus-group) interviews. The sample represented the three populations involved in the medical education accreditation process. The participants were positive about the value of the proposed guide. The findings indicated that a guide for accreditation reviews would render the accreditation process more objective and structured, and could start an effective developmental process in undergraduate medical education in South Africa. As the guide contains clear criteria (rubrics and scoring guide) for accreditation evaluations, no room is left for personal perspectives to bias the evaluations.

Medical Education in South Africa–Exciting times

The dramatic political changes of the first ten years of democracy in South Africa have seen major shifts in vested power. Social change and political will have resulted in a new face of our medical student population. Diversity of colour, gender, religion and previously disadvantaged groups make student profiles as different as they could be from a decade ago. The forces of curriculum change, the devolution of power and resources from tertiary centres to primary care facilities and the financial squeeze on university coffers have resulted in enormous challenges for medical educators. South African doctors have been readily accepted in English-speaking countries around the world as they have been well trained, resourceful and usually extensively experienced in clinical situations. Some of these attributes remain. This paper outlines the new prospects facing those who will be educating the future doctors of South Africa.

Opening up the debate on medical education in South Africa

Extracted from text ... Editorial Gentlemen - it may not have escaped your professional observation that there are only two classes of mankind in the world - doctors and patients. Speaking as a patient I should say the average patient looks at the average doctor very much as a non- combatant (in war time) looks upon the troops fighting on his behalf. The more trained men there are between his body and the enemy the better. But what sort of education and training do these men and women need? Rudyard Kipling 1908 1 In 1993 the General Medical Council produced its seminal publication Tomorrow's ..

The changing profile of medical education in South Africa

The changing profile of medical education in South Africa

Medical Education in South Africa.

The object of medical education is to provide men and women trained to a standard adequate to meet the needs of a medical service to the community which it serves. In a young country like South Africa it is relatively easy to study the development of medical education over the last 200 years. It is without embarrassment that I must point out j that the early history of medical education in >' South Africa is virtually the history of the establishment of the Faculty of Medicine in the University of Cape Town.