New dean of health sciences appointed

UNIVERSITIES need more space to train medical students if they are realistic about producing more graduates.

That’s according to UCT’s new dean of health sciences.

Professor Bongani Mayosi takes up his position in September.

He said while there had been progress with increased intake, it was “very slow and almost insignificant”.

The country’s growth, including the quadruple increase in disease fuelled by poverty and inequality, had been met with a low 18 percent increase in the number of doctors produced by the eight universities; from 1 100 in 2000, to just over 1 300 in 2012, he said.

“We need to meet the national needs by building new medical schools and generally increase spaces and training sites where we train these students.

“UCT is already responding to this need… we are increasing the platform for training by creating new sites for training in George through the partnership with the Health Department.

“Through this strategy we are hoping to increase our intake of new students by 50 percent by 2020,” he said.

Mayosi, who is the first black African to lead the faculty, currently serves as the head of the Department of Medicine.

He will take up his post after completing a sabbatical at Harvard University from January to August.

He will spend the eight-month stint preparing for his new role.

Born in Mthatha, Mayosi graduated from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in 1990.

He gained clinical experience, first as an intern and later as a medical officer at Livingstone Hospital in Port Elizabeth, before being appointed senior house officer and registrar in medicine and cardiology at UCT’s affiliated hospitals.