Doctors in a Divided Society: The Profession and Education of Medical Practitioners in South Africa
(Complete Item Description)
- Abstract:
Many of the goals of South Africa's new democracy depend on the production of professionals who have not only the knowledge and skills to make our country globally competitive but also a commitment to working and living here. Despite numerous reforms, the South African health system, ten years into democracy, remains divided with first world private care that ranks with middle income countries internationally at the one end and at the other extreme in the rural public sector in particular conditions that are superior only to the poorest of African countries. Much work has been done to change medical school curricula in line with the primary healthcare focus of government policy and international trends towards problem-based learning. This study on the medical profession and its related education programmes considers the multiple worlds of medical practice in South Africa ten years into democracy from a number of perspectives. First it presents the major problem facing government - the skewed distribution of medical doctors across public, private, rural, and urban divides - and considers its recent attempts to rectify the imbalance. sSecondly, it presents the universities' responses to the equity and redress demands of government policy, changing profiles of medical students and graduates, and new curricula to meet the profile of the basic doctor who is willing and able to serve the needs of a transformed South Africa. Finally, it focuses on two medical schools to explore these issues in greater depth.
- Subject:
- Science and Technology, Social Sciences
- Grade Level:
- Post-secondary
- Collection:
- University of Cape Town