Selection policies for undergraduate medical programmes aimed at redress should be continued and further refined, along with the provision of support to ensure student success.
ResearchGlobally, more than a billion people never consult a healthcare worker in their lives. Inequitable and ineffective healthcare systems are weakened by a scarcity and maldistribution of the healthcare workforce.[1] Together with other stakeholders, health professional schools can play a key role in reducing inequality and improving health equity. The Global Independent Commission on Education of Health Professionals for the 21st Century (2010) calls for transforming institutional and educational approaches to better meet changing health systems needs.[2] Furthermore, in late 2010, the Global Consensus for Social Accountability of Medical Schools (GCSA) urged schools to improve their response to current and future health-related needs and challenges in society and reorientate their activities accordingly.[3] From the above it follows that it is necessary for health professional schools to engage with the community as an essential strategy to achieve a diverse healthforce, increasing access to healthcare and eliminating health disparities.In South Africa (SA), as in the rest of the world, community engagement plays an important part in higher education. Reorientation of health professions education to an inclusive primary healthcare approach was called for in the White Paper on the Transformation of the Healthcare System in SA.[4] Some [5,6] argue that the educational programme for health care professionals should deliver graduates who are prepared for work in community settings, resulting from the move from fixed institutions, such as hospitals, to various settings in the community. Community-based education (CBE) and service learning (SL) as a means of achieving greater social responsibility have become more prominent in health professions education worldwide.CBE in a medical context can be defined as learning activities that take place within communities and take into consideration the main health problems of the country, but do not directly engage the community in the design, conduct and/or evaluation of these activities. [7,8] SL has been defined as 'an educational approach involving curriculum-based, credit-bearing learning experiences in which students (a) participate in contextualised, well-structured and organised service activities aimed at addressing identified service needs in a community, and (b) reflect on the service experiences in order to gain a deeper understanding of the linkage between curriculum content and community dynamics, as well as achieve personal growth and a sense of social responsibility. It requires a collaborative partnership context that enhances mutual, reciprocal teaching and learning among all members of the partnership.' [9] The Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of the Free State (UFS), Bloemfontein, SA recognises the tremendous potential of CBE and SL to enhance health professions education, as both allow students to apply the information they learn in the classroom to real-world settings and provide an important avenue for self-reflection. CBE and SL contrib...
The strategic framework provides guidelines for the development and sustainable management of an SEM research programme. It will make a substantial contribution to the research, further development, and ultimately the status of SEM in South Africa.
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