Where are they working? A case study of twenty Cuban-trained South African doctors

African Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine

 
 
Field Value
 
Title Where are they working? A case study of twenty Cuban-trained South African doctors
 
Creator Motala, Munirah van Wyk, Jacqueline
 
Subject general practice; rural medicine; primary health care doctor shortages; primary health care; Cuban-trained; South African; medical programme.
Description Background: The year 2017 marked the 21st anniversary of the South African Cuban Medical Collaboration (SACMC) programme that offers disadvantaged South African (SA) students an opportunity for medical training in Cuba. Graduates are expected to return to practice at a primary care level in rural communities; however, little is known about the professional trajectories and career choices of graduates from the programme.Aim: This study explored the reasons why students enrolled in the programme, their professional and career choices as graduates and their career intentions.Setting: The study setting was the whole of SA although participants were primarily drawn from KwaZulu-Natal.Methods: An exploratory, qualitative case study used a purposive sampling strategy to gather data through semi-structured interviews from participants.Results: Graduates (N = 20) of the SACMC programme were all practicing in local SA settings. Participants preferred the SACMC programme as it offered them a full scholarship for medical training. Nineteen doctors had fulfilled their obligation to work in rural areas. Thirteen doctors are engaged in primary healthcare practice, either as private practice generalists or as public service medical officers. Three doctors had completed specialty training: one doctor was training towards specialisation, one doctor was employed at national government and two doctors were employed as medical managers. At the time of the study, 11 doctors were practicing in rural locations and 19 had indicated a long-term intention to work and live within South Africa.Conclusion: The participants of this study who graduated from the SACMC programme are fulfilling their obligations in rural communities. They all intend to contribute to the SA medical workforce in the long-term.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor
Date 2019-08-21
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — Mixed
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/phcfm.v11i1.1977
 
Source African Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine; Vol 11, No 1 (2019); 9 pages 2071-2936 2071-2928
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://phcfm.org/index.php/phcfm/article/view/1977/3285 https://phcfm.org/index.php/phcfm/article/view/1977/3284 https://phcfm.org/index.php/phcfm/article/view/1977/3286 https://phcfm.org/index.php/phcfm/article/view/1977/3283
 
Coverage South Africa 2017 medical doctors
Rights Copyright (c) 2019 Munirah Motala, Jacqueline van Wyk https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
ADVERTISEMENT