Johannesburg - The stress and burden placed on South Africa’s medical professionals as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic has strengthened North West University’s resolve to open a medical school.
North West University (NWU) in North West announced that the coronavirus pandemic had highlighted the need for a medical school despite the financial pressures caused by the pandemic.
“This is a matter that we will continue to pursue because we strongly believe that a Medical School would address the needs of prospective students and the public in terms of enrolment opportunities and public health in our country,” said NWU council chairperson, Dr Bismark Tyobeka, after a recent council meeting.
The possibility of establishing a medical school at NWU was raised in about 2006, but it was only in 2017 that planning moved into high gear.
The university’s Medical School Task Team, led by Tyobeka, was established this year to investigate the case for a medical school at the university.
The task team includes NWU Vice-Chancellor and Principal Professor, Dan Kgwadi, NWU Faculty of Health Sciences Dean, Professor Awie Kotzé, Faculty of Health Sciences Deputy Dean: Strategy and Business Development, Professor Andrew Robinson, and Terry Wickham, a consultant from Healthcare Initiatives.
NWU said that the task team’s latest report stated that the next step for the university would be to secure urgent meetings with North West Premier Job Mokgoro, the provincial Department of Health, the national Department of Health and the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Blade Nzimande.
“We remain optimistic about the opportunities for collaboration and support from key stakeholders at national and provincial level,” Tyobeka said.
The council chairperson added that the university’s governing body also supported the task team’s plans to lobby for the urgent establishment of an NWU Medical School.
“Once final approval is granted by the relevant authorities, NWU will become the eleventh university medical school in the country,” the university said.
Earlier this year, the Nelson Mandela University (NMU) in the Eastern Cape launched South Africa’s tenth and newest medical school. The university in Port Elizabeth had announced last year that it would welcome its first cohort of medical students.
“Only 50 places were available, but more than 3 500 applications were received.
“This highlights the exceptionally high demand for medical training at the very limited number of medical schools in the country,” NWU said.
The university added that with the announcement of the new medical school at NMU, the high cost of operating such a facility came under the spotlight.
“However, the medical fraternity and societal formations appear to agree that the need for trained medical staff, particularly doctors, far outweighs the costs of setting up and operating medical schools,” NWU said.
The university added that it had crafted a “unique and compelling value proposition” in its planning for the proposed new NWU Medical School that would see the typical establishment and operating costs slashed without any sacrifice in terms of quality of training and eventual outcome.”
The Star