MEDICAL PRACTITIONERS

Breier, M. (2009) Doctors. In: Erasmus, J. & Breier, M. (eds). Skills shortages in South Africa: case studies of key professions. Cape Town: HSRC Press. 113-131.

In South Africa, migration of medical doctors has both internal and external dimensions. Doctors are trained in public-service hospitals and serve one year's community service in rural or in hospitable locations after qualifying, but few remain there. Most migrate to private sector and many others leave the country. Here the rural public is dependent on foreign doctors. It is against this backg...

Breier, M. & Wildschut, A. (2006) Doctors in a divided society: the profession and education of medical practitioners in South Africa. Cape Town: HSRC Press.

Many of the goals of South Africa' 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: first world private care that ranks with middle income countries inte...

Breier, M. & Wildschut, A. (2006) The feminisation of medical schools in South Africa. HSRC review. 4(4):10-12.

Women are now in a clear majority at undergraduate level at most medical schools in South Africa. This has certain implications for the profession which are not obvious, write MIGNONNE BREIER and ANGELIQUE WILDSCHUT.

Breier, M. (2006) A model for the analysis of professions and professional education applied to medical doctors in South Africa. Perspectives in education. 24(3):25-35.

This article presents a model that has the potential to frame research and analysis across a range of different professional contexts. Professions and their professional education programmes are seen in relation to national and international professional labour markets and the multiple socio-economic, political and discursive conditions that constitute professional milieu. Viewed in this way ...

Breier, M. (2006) New human resources plan foresees fewer foreign doctors. HSRC review. 4(2):8-9.

A new human resources plan by the Department of Health could more than halve the number of foreign medical doctors in South Africa with serious consequences for the public health service, warns Mignonne Breier. hospitals and clinics in rural areas, already crippled by staff shortages, would be hardest hit. At the same time, the plan presents unrealistic expectations of doubling the production o...

Breier, M. & Wildschut, A. (2006) On the achievement of local conscience in the globally competent: the dilemma in the education of medical doctors in South Africa. (Paper presented at the Social Sciences in an African Context Conference, Birchwood Conference Centre, Benoni, 27-29 September).

Breier, M. (2006) The relevance of equity in the education of medical doctors in South Africa. (Paper presented at the Conference on Core Competencies in Human Rights for Health Professionals, University of Cape Town, 5 July).

Hall, E. & Erasmus, J. (2003) Medical practitioners and nurses. In Human resources development review 2003: education, employment and skills in South Africa. Human Sciences Research Council Cape Town: HSRC Press. 522-553.

There are currently 29655 medical practitioners employed in South Africa at a rate of 65 physicians per 100 000 of the population. Approximately 60 per cent of physicians are employed in the private health sector at a ratio of 255:100 000. The remainder work in the public health sector where they provide medical care to 84 per cent of the population at ratio of 29:100 000. Shortages are crea...

Mohlala, G., Peltzer, K., Phaswana-Mafuya, N. & Ramlagan, S. (2010) Drug prescription habits in public and private health facilities in 2 provinces in South Africa. Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal. 16(3):324-328.

The aim of this study was to explore drug prescription habits using WHO standard indicators in 15 public hospitals and 36 private surgeries in 2 provinces in South Africa. A high mean number of drugs were prescribed per patient (3.2 versus 2.8) in public hospitals and by general practitioners (GPs) respectively and generic prescribing rates were low (45.2% versus 24.5%). The rates of prescribin...

Morrow, S. (2004) Book review: Illiffe, J. (2002) East African doctors: a history of the modern profession. Kampala: Fountain Publishers. 336 p. ISBN 9970023039. African book publishing record (ABPR). xxx (2):122.

Peltzer, K., Phaswana-Mafuya, N. & Davids, A. (2010) The use of EUROPEP in South Africa: an internationally standardised instrument to evaluate general practice. Journal of Psychology in Africa. 20(1):113-116.

The study examined the psychometric properties of the South African (isiXhosa) version of the European Task Force for Patient Evaluation of General Practice (EUROPEP) instrument. A total of 19,136 patients who visited 266 primary care practices in three districts in the Eastern Cape of South Africa completed the EUROPEP, a measure of patient satisfaction with care. The data were analyzed for re...

Peltzer, K. & Ndlovu, R.V. (2005) Physicians' transmission-prevention-assessment and counseling practices with their HIV-positive patients in Limpopo province, South Africa. African journal for physical, health education, recreation and dance (AJPHERD). 11(4):404-429.

Peltzer, K., Mashego, T. & Mabebe, M. (2003) Short communication: occupational stress and burnout among South African medical practitioners. Stress and health. 19:275-280.

The aim of this study was to identify job stress and burnout symptoms among randomly selected South African medical practitioners from a national survey.

Shisana, O. (2010) Production and dissemination of knowledge: how global can it be?. (Paper delivered at the American Association of Advancement of Science meeting , San Diego, 20 February).

Download full text

Wildschut, A. (2010) Doctors in the public service: too few for too many. HSRC Review. 8(4):12-15.

In the global market for knowledge and the knowledgeable, health professionals are highly prized, leading to an international migration carousel - doctors offer their services or are actively recruited to countries that offer better conditions than their own. In South Africa, the migration of medical doctors has several dimensions, writes ANGELIQUE WILDSCHUT, illustrated by the ongoing inequali...

Wildschut, A. (2010) Exploring internal segregation in the South African medical profession. Journal of Workplace Learning. 22(1/2):53-66.

This paper explores the motivations underlying the specialisation choices of six female specialist doctors working in Cape Town, South Africa and investigates whether the specific gender work identity associated with that specialism resulted in their motivation to enter it. The research methodology comprised of conducting semi-structured interviews, where female medical doctors were asked to p...

Wildschut, A.C. (2008) Motivating for a gendered analysis of trends within South African medical schools and the profession. South African Journal of Higher Education. 22(4):920-932.

In South Africa, in the prestigious profession of medicine, women are still in the minority. Men continue to form nearly three quarters of the number of registered practitioners, although social and institutional exclusionary structures have been abolished. It is important to investigate the reasons underlying this state of affairs, which exists despite equality in access to educational oppor...