LEARNING EXPERIENCES OF THE

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2011-05-11

Authors

Skosana, Tabisile Yvonne

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Abstract

When the new government took over in 1994, it had to transform health services in line with the Primary Health Care (PHC) approach, ensuring the provision of equitable health services. In order to address the shortage of doctors, the governments of the Republics of South Africa and Cuba signed a Declaration of Intent (DOI) in 1996 on cooperation in the field of Health. One component of this cooperation was to train previously disadvantaged South Africans from rural areas in Cuba. Ten years ago, thirty South Africans from Gauteng with others from other provinces, were sent to Cuba to study medicine. For six years these medical students were groomed in the Cuban health care system which focuses on prevention and wellness. In the seventh year of their training they returned to South Africa to complete the course in an environment that emphasizes curative services and strong clinical competency. They had to learn, catch up with and master clinical skills that their South African counterparts have been honing for years. Because they were trained in one system and expected to practice in another, they had to readapt to local universities and health care system. The research question was to what extent, if any, have these students been able to integrate their learning into the South African health care system? The purpose of this research was to investigate the learning experiences of the Gauteng medical students in the South African Cuban Medical Training programme. It utilized an interpretive qualitative design using a semi-structured questionnaire. Eight (8) South African Cuban trained doctors who were in the South African Cuban Medical Training programme and four (4) registrars from Gauteng health facilities were purposefully selected and interviewed. However, the findings indicate that this programme faces a variety of problems mainly poor communication between stakeholders. In order for this programme to function as intended, communication between stakeholders has to be improved. An underlying problem identified is the inability of disadvantaged South Africans to meet the entrance requirements for local medical universities. The policy on university entry needs to be reviewed

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MM - P&DM

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Medical students, Health services, Education, medical

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