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Plans for new medical school in the North West province
The North West University is hoping to open a new medical school within the next three years. This school will help ease the burden on South African public healthcare facilities which face great staff shortages.
The country’s eight medical schools have produced about 1 300 doctors each year since 2000 which is not enough to meet the growing demand for healthcare in South Africa due to an increasing population and a significant burden of disease due to HIV/Aids and TB.
Half of the country’s doctors will move overseas. Three quarters of the about 600 doctors remaining in South Africa will work in the private sector which leaves only 150 doctors to work in public healthcare facilities. The national health department’s human resources strategy document estimated an 83 043 shortfall of all health professionals in the country in 2011. [i]
Aaron Motsoaledi, Minister of Health, said at the launch of the strategy document in October last year, that his department plans to expand infrastructure at universities’ medical faculties and build a new medical school in Polokwane to increase the number of doctors the country produces. [i]
North West University’s Potchefstroom campus plans to open a new medical school which forms part of its project list for 2012 to 2014, said Johan van Zyl, the university’s communication officer. Van Zyl said the university is discussing its plans, which are still at an early stage, with the North West provincial government who would be the project’s main donor if it were to go ahead. [ii] Currently, the province does not have a medical school.
Building new medical schools in South Africa is a much-needed long-term strategy to meet the country’s needs, but urgent action is needed now to increase access to quality healthcare.
This is where Africa Health Placements (AHP) comes in. Since our inception in 2005 we have helped public health facilities to provide better services to their communities by recruiting more than 2 100 health workers ─ mostly foreign doctors ─ to fill staffing gaps in these facilities.
By placing doctors in underserved areas, AHP improves the care patients receive now while working with the national Department of Health and other bodies to create a sustainable new reality for public health.
[i] Mclea, H. (2011). “Aaron Motsoaledi wants to train more medics.” Available from: http://www.timeslive.co.za/politics/2011/10/12/aaron-motsoaledi-wants-to-train-more-medics
[ii] Thomas, C. (2012). “Nuwe mediese skool dalk in Potch.” Available from: http://www.volksblad.com/Suid-Afrika/Nuus/Nuwe-mediese-skool-dalk-in-Potch-20120111#
