scholarly journals Family medicine training in Africa: Views of clinical trainers and trainees

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Louis S. Jenkins ◽  
Klaus Von Pressentin
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Family Medicine ◽  
Learning Style ◽  
Teaching Style ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Family Physicians ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Family Doctors ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Learning Conversations

Background: This article reports on the findings of a workshop held at the joint 5th World Organisation of Family Doctors (WONCA) Africa and 20th National Family Practitioners Conference in Tshwane, South Africa, in 2017. Postgraduate training for family medicine in Africa takes place in the clinical workspace at the bedside or next to the patient in the clinic, district hospital or regional hospital. Direct supervisor observation, exchange of reflection and feedback, and learning conversations between the supervisor and the registrar are central to learning and assessment processes.Objectives: The aim of the workshop was to understand how family medicine registrars (postgraduate trainees in family medicine) in Africa learn in the workplace.Methods: Thirty-five trainers and registrars from nine African countries, the United Kingdom, United States and Sweden participated. South Africa was represented by the universities of Cape Town, Limpopo, Pretoria, Sefako Makgatho, Stellenbosch, Walter Sisulu and Witwatersrand.Results: Six major themes were identified: (1) context is critical, (2) learning style of the registrar and (teaching style) of the supervisor, (3) learning portfolio is utilised, (4) interactions between registrar and supervisor, (5) giving and receiving feedback and (6) the competence of the supervisor.Conclusion: The training of family physicians across Africa shares many common themes. However, there are also big differences among the various countries and even programmes within countries. The way forward would include exploring the local contextual enablers that influence the learning conversations between trainees and their supervisors. Family medicine training institutions and organisations (such as WONCA Africa and the South African Academy of Family Physicians) have a critical role to play in supporting trainees and trainers towards developing local competencies which facilitate learning in the clinical workplace dominated by service delivery pressures.

Psychosocial Beliefs of Medical Students Planning to Specialize in Family Medicine

1997 ◽  
Vol 80 (3) ◽  
pp. 987-992 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fred W. Markham ◽  
James J. Diamond
Keyword(s):  
Internal Medicine ◽  
Medical Students ◽  
Family Medicine ◽  
Family Physicians ◽  
Female Students ◽  
Further Training ◽  
Senior Year ◽  
Family Doctors ◽  
Fourth Year Medical Students ◽  
Belief Scale

The psychosocial orientation of fourth-year medical students planning careers in family medicine was compared to those selecting other specialities using the Physician Belief Scale. This scale has shown that practicing family physicians have a greater psychosocial orientation than those in other specialities such as internal medicine. The current study was done to see whether students choosing family medicine already have this greater orientation before they begin training as residents. 664 fourth-year medical students received surveys during their senior year and 378 (57%) returned completed surveys. Female students had a significantly greater psychosocial orientation than their male peers, but there were no significant differences between students planning residencies in family medicine and those selecting other residencies. The greater orientation of family doctors would appear to be a product of further training and experience either during residency or later during the actual practice of family medicine.

scholarly journals Core Values of Family Physicians and General Practitioners in the African Context

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry J. O. Lawson ◽  
David N. N. Nortey
Keyword(s):  
Family Medicine ◽  
General Practitioners ◽  
Clinical Training ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Family Physicians ◽  
Core Values ◽  
Training Methods ◽  
African Countries ◽  
The Core ◽  
Daunting Task

Introduction: Family Medicine is a growing specialty in the medical world. While it is expected that the specialty should have its own unique and established core values and tasks, the breath of the practice in several countries of the world has made this a daunting task. Core values and Tasks have far reaching effects on professions. They guide development of curricula, methods of instruction, standards of performance and even the culture of the profession. We aimed to explore the core value system of Family Physicians and General Practitioners practicing in Africa.Methods: Using the Delphi technique, a purposive selection of African Family Medicine practitioners in academia, public service, private practice and clinical training across Central, East, North, South and West Africa was conducted. Participants were asked to select five core values from an alphabetically collated global list of 29 core values in an online survey. The five most selected core values were collated and sent out in the second round to the participants to rank in order of importance.Results: Practitioners from nine African countries in three out of the five United Nations subregions of Africa completed the study. The first round of the study saw participation of a team of nineteen experts who selected the following five core values—Comprehensive care, Continuity of Care, Collaborative Care, Patient centered care, and Life-long learning.Discussion/Conclusion: The core values selected were not very different from global literature. These core values should guide the development of curricula, standardization of training methods and creation of benchmarks for standards of practice for the specialty in Africa.

scholarly journals Collaborative postgraduate training in family medicine and primary care: Reflections on my visit to South Africa

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Felicity Goodyear-Smith
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Primary Care ◽  
Family Medicine ◽  
International Comparisons ◽  
Working Party ◽  
Research Capacity ◽  
Research Network ◽  
Family Doctors ◽  
Postgraduate Students ◽  
District Hospitals

This reflection describes my funded visit to South Africa to assist in primary care research capacity building as Chair, WONCA Working Party on Research (WP-R). The trip included time at the Universities of Walter Sisulu, Limpopo and Stellenbosch to mentor postgraduate students working on master’s and PhD theses. I held one-on-one and group sessions and ran interactive scientific writing workshops. I assisted with the establishment of a Stellenbosch University Family Physician Research Network of faculty academics and family physicians (FP) which will generate research questions from community stakeholders. I also ran a writing workshop at the Joint 5th WONCA Africa and 20th South African National Family Practitioners Conference in Pretoria attended by about 100 conference delegates, ranging from FP registrars to academics with PhDs and peer-reviewed publications. A WP-R panel presentation of international comparisons of primary care systems was also held at this conference, with the countries of Ghana, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia and Nigeria presented. During my stay, Ireflected on the differences between family medicine in South Africa and in my home country, New Zealand (NZ). In South Africa, there is high prevalence of HIV and tuberculosis, seldom seen in NZ. Donor-funded vertical programmes cause significant fragmentation of care. Family doctors generally work in district hospitals, providing consultancy support to nurseled clinics. They have a laudable requirement to complete a Master’s in Medicine in conjunction with vocational training. Academic family medicine in South Africa is coming of age. I feel privileged to play a small part in its journey to maturity.

scholarly journals Family medicine in South Africa: exploring future scenarios

2017 ◽  
Vol 59 (2) ◽  
pp. 36
Author(s):  
Robert Mash ◽  
Klaus Von Pressentin
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Family Medicine ◽  
Planning Process ◽  
Family Physicians ◽  
Scenario Planning ◽  
Future Scenarios ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Professional Body ◽  
Public And Private Sector ◽  
Main Message

This paper reports on a workshop held at the 19th National Family Practitioners Conference in August 2016. The aim of the workshop was to describe possible future scenarios for the discipline of family medicine in South Africa and identify possible options for action. The workshop led a group of 40 family physicians from academic, public and private sector settings through a scenario planning process developed by Clem Sunter and Chantell Ilbury. After an overview of the current situation the participants reached a consensus on the rules of the game, key uncertainties, future scenarios and options for action. The main message was that the South African Academy of Family Physicians as a professional body needs to take a stronger role in advocating for the contribution of family medicine to government, health managers and the public. (Full text of the research articles are available online at www.medpharm.tandfonline.com/ojfp) S Afr Fam Pract 2017; DOI: 10.1080/20786190.2016.1272231

scholarly journals The Contribution of Family Medicine and Family Medicine Leaders to Primary Health Care Development in Americas - from Alma-Ata to Astana and beyond

2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 1215-1220
Author(s):  
David Ponka ◽  
Neil Arya ◽  
Valérie Malboeuf ◽  
Christine Leung ◽  
Carolyn Ruth Wilson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Family Medicine ◽  
Family Physicians ◽  
Family Doctors ◽  
Primary Health ◽  
Future Challenges ◽  
High Level ◽  
Leader Role ◽  
Interdisciplinary Health Teams ◽  
Care Development

Abstract Since 2012, the Besrour Centre for Global Family Medicine at the College of Family Physician of Canada has brought together its partners from the Americas annually, to reflect on the evolution of Family Medicine on the continent since Alma-Ata, and to look forward to future challenges. Family doctors are but one element of a strong health system. Family Medicine provides key ingredients to respond to population health needs especially as countries move through the epidemiological transition to face larger burdens of chronic disease and multimorbidity. In this paper, we provide a high-level overview of the state of Family Medicine on the continent. We then analyze trends in the education of family physicians to face this changing landscape, including the emphasis on the leader role of future family physicians. Postgraduate programs in Family Medicine in the Americas are placing increasing emphasis on teaching collaborative care in view of creating truly interdisciplinary health teams for the benefit of patients.

scholarly journals Mastering your fellowship

2020 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mergan Naidoo ◽  
Klaus B. Von Pressentin ◽  
Honey Mabuza ◽  
Tasleem Ras
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Family Medicine ◽  
Family Physicians ◽  
Question Format

The series, ‘Mastering your Fellowship’, provides examples of the question format encountered in the written and clinical examinations, Part A of the Fellowship of the College of Family Physicians, South Africa (FCFP [SA]) examination. The series is aimed at helping family medicine registrars prepare for this examination. Model answers are available online.

scholarly journals Mastering your fellowship

2020 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mergan Naidoo ◽  
Klaus B. Von Pressentin ◽  
Andrew Ross ◽  
Tasleem Ras
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Family Medicine ◽  
Family Physicians ◽  
Question Format

The series, ‘Mastering your Fellowship’, provides examples of the question format encountered in the written and clinical examinations, Part A of the Fellowship of the College of Family Physicians of South Africa (FCFP [SA]) examination. The series is aimed at helping family medicine registrars prepare for this examination. Model answers are available online.

scholarly journals Training of workplace-based clinical trainers in family medicine, South Africa: Before-and-after evaluation

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Mash ◽  
Julia Blitz ◽  
Jill Edwards ◽  
Steve Mowle
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Family Medicine ◽  
Learning Styles ◽  
Clinical Training ◽  
Family Physicians ◽  
Pass Rate ◽  
District Health ◽  
Educational Approach ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Training Programmes

Background: The training of family physicians is a relatively new phenomenon in the district health services of South Africa. There are concerns about the quality of clinical training and the low pass rate in the national examination.Aim: To assess the effect of a five-day course to train clinical trainers in family medicine on the participants’ subsequent capability in the workplace.Setting: Family physician clinical trainers from training programmes mainly in South Africa, but also from Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, Malawi and Botswana.Methods: A before-and-after study using self-reported change at 6 weeks (N = 18) and a 360-degree evaluation of clinical trainers by trainees after 3 months (N = 33). Quantitative data were analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences, and qualitative data wereanalysed thematically.Results: Significant change (p < 0.05) was found at 6 weeks in terms of ensuring safe and effective patient care through training, establishing and maintaining an environment for learning, teaching and facilitating learning, enhancing learning through assessment, and supporting and monitoring educational progress. Family physicians reported that they were better at giving feedback, more aware of different learning styles, more facilitative and less authoritarian in their educational approach, more reflective and critical of their educational capabilities and more aware of principles in assessment. Despite this, the trainees did notreport any noticeable change in the trainers’ capability after 3 months.Conclusion: The results support a short-term improvement in the capability of clinical trainers following the course. This change needs to be supported by ongoing formative assessment and supportive visits, which are reported on elsewhere.

A human resources for health analysis of registered family medicine specialists in South Africa: 2002–19

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ritika Tiwari ◽  
Robert Mash ◽  
Innocent Karangwa ◽  
Usuf Chikte
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Health Policy ◽  
Family Medicine ◽  
Human Resources ◽  
Human Resources For Health ◽  
Family Physicians ◽  
Medical Practitioners ◽  
The Public ◽  
New Graduates ◽  
Training Programmes

Abstract Background In South Africa, there is a need to clarify the human resources for health policy on family physicians (FPs) and to ensure that the educational and health systems are well aligned in terms of the production and employment of FPs. Objective To analyse the human resource situation with regard to family medicine in South Africa and evaluate the requirements for the future. Methods A retrospective review of the Health Professions Council of South Africa’s (HPCSA) database on registered family medicine practitioners from 2002 until 2019. Additional data were obtained from the South African Academy of Family Physicians and published research. Results A total of 1247 family medicine practitioners were registered with the HPCSA in 2019, including 969 specialist FPs and 278 medical practitioners on a discontinued register. Of the 969, 194 were new graduates and 775 from older programmes. The number of FPs increased from 0.04/10 000 population in 2009 to 0.16/10 000 in 2019, with only 29% in the public sector. On average, seven registrars entered each of nine training programmes per year and three graduated. New graduates and registrars reflect a growing diversity and more female FPs. The number of FPs differed significantly in terms of age, gender, provincial location and population groups. Conclusions South Africa has an inadequate supply of FPs with substantial inequalities. Training programmes need to triple their output over the next 10 years. Human resources for health policy should substantially increase opportunities for training and employment of FPs.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document