NMMU's medical future ... doing it differently

NMMU's proposed medical school is under the spotlight

Tomorrow’s a pretty big day for the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) – and its future.

You see, a small team from the Health Sciences Faculty is off to the Public Health Standing Committee down at the metro’s municipal headquarters at 10am to share insights on our innovative approach to health care education in South Africa.

They want to know what the university has in mind with their “bottom-up” approach to a medical school. They want to know how the university is going to respond to the ever-pressing health care needs of the country, and particularly the Eastern Cape. And they probably want to know how it’s going to impact on their own roles.

With only three doctors for every 100 000 patients, it’s pretty obvious there’s a need to produce young men and women who can respond to that need and serve our province.

The university has already received the thumbs up from several quarters, including those in the health profession. It was singled out for its innovative and realistic approach to health care education at a recent health conference in Cape Town.

“We’re being praised for how we are about to redefine the norm for health services education in South Africa,” says NMMU’s Dr Andrew Crichton, who is part of a large team driving the transformation of university’s Health Science Faculty in readiness for a medical school.

The university’s Council has already given the thumbs up to a blue print for the proposed medical school which has also been positively received by other key stakeholders within the health profession.

“We’re simply doing things differently and in line with the real needs of South Africa.”

Let’s hope the Public Health Standing Committee is in agreement too.

Unlike other tertiary institutions, NMMU will not start out with a fully-fledged medical school but, as shared, take a “bottom-up” approach and focus its curriculum on producing doctors for the realities of the South African context.

Exit and entry levels into the new General Medical Practitioner (GMP) degree, to be introduced in 2018, will also differ from traditional medical schools, along with its innovative trans-disciplinary study approach.

“It’s about being responsive to our public care system – having a real social purpose with real-world impact - and strengthening our national health imperatives. As a comprehensive university, NMMU will distinguish itself from other medical establishments in the way it does things,” says Dr Crichton.

The “bottom up” approach saw the introduction of four-year dietetics and emergency medical care degrees in 2013 and 2013 respectively, along with the much-need pharmacy technician programmes.

A Clinical Associates degree (BCMP) is expected to be introduced in 2016 and the flagship GMP degree in 2018.

But let’s hear what this key group thinks of the innovative plan …

(That means please watch this space).