The physician-scientists: rare species in Africa

Adefuye, Anthonio Oladele; Adeola, Henry Ademola; Bezuidenhout, Johan

doi:10.11604/pamj.2018.29.8.13239

Cited by 10 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…The shortage of physician scientists and the potential consequences were highlighted by the commentary of Adefuye, Adeola and Bezuidenhout [16]. One thing that should be added to this is the need to provide quality supervision in all relevant fields.…”

Section: Variants Of Doctorates In Bms and The African Scenariosmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Supervisory Model for Emerging PhDs in Basic Medical Sciences on the African Continent: A Perspective

Owolabi

2021

JAMMR

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Aim/Purpose: This article- a perspective, is an attempt to critically review the African scenario with respect to doctoral supervision for Basic Medical Sciences and proffer potential solutions in the form of a supervisory model. Background: There is a need to develop supervisory models for emerging PhDs in Basic Medical Sciences [BMS] in Africa. There has been continuous evolutions and rapid advancements as further compounded by continuous sophistication in research tools, methods, and technologies. These have resulted in newer fields emerging from the traditional fields. A major fallout of this is a shortage or rather unavailability of supervisors to train younger scientists in these new fields. The available supervisors were mostly trained in a more traditional fields or in the context of the relatively traditional paradigm of scholarship. Thus, Africa currently, suffers from a lack of supervisory capacity to train younger scientists in the emerging fields of Basic Medical Sciences. Methodology: This article is a perspective that included a narrative review of literature, critical appraisal of the current prevalent scenario, and proposition of a supervisory model. Relevant literature sources were considered. Effort was made to provide a practical supervisory model that might guide African doctoral schools to train doctoral candidates in emerging fields, leveraging on available resources while making strategic adaptions. It is important to note that this should be done in an evidence-based manner, hence standard practices were reviewed and considered. Contribution: There is currently a paucity of data and information on doctoral scholarship and supervision in Africa. There is a need to conduct research on relevant subjects to provide further insight into the prevalent scenarios, the root cause of the problems and postulate potential solutions to the problems. This article presents a model that might employ effective, innovative, and practical approaches to address the current situation. Otherwise, lack of adequate supervisory capacity could contribute perpetually to impeding adequate advancements in BMS in Africa, through scholarship, particularly in line with global trends and current realities. The article proposes a collaborative model for supervising emerging and novel PhDs.

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Section: Variants Of Doctorates In Bms and The African Scenariosmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Supervisory Model for Emerging PhDs in Basic Medical Sciences on the African Continent: A Perspective

Owolabi

2021

JAMMR

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“…The clinical workload and high need for service delivery in most parts of Africa and, indeed, the Free State province, often make it difficult if not impossible for healthcare professionals to dedicate time to self-professional development (30,31). This inability may be the case for those EMCPs (16.3%) who reported that they do not have the time to read scientific journals ( Table 3).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Non-compliance with continuing professional development requirements: Perspectives of emergency medical care practitioners in a resource-poor setting

Adefuye

Wyk

Sookram

2020

Australasian Journal of Paramedicine

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IntroductionIn 2002, the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) made continuing professional development (CPD) a mandatory requirement for all registered healthcare practitioners. However, the latest (2017/2018) HPCSA report states that there is still a generally low level of compliance to CPD requirements by emergency medical care practitioners (EMCPs) nationwide.MethodsThis was a descriptive study that made use of a questionnaire survey administered to 261 EMCPs.ResultsOf the 261 questionnaires that were distributed, 247 were returned, giving a response rate of 94.6%. More than half (50.6%) of the EMCPs indicated that they lack knowledge on the HPCSA-recommended CPD requirements for EMCPs, and 54% stated that they do not have CPD portfolios. EMCPs listed the factors that hinder attendance of CPD activities: lack of information about the CPD activities (72.7%); cost of attending CPD events (70.6%); limited availability of CPD activities (70.6%); transportation problems (68.5%); timing of CPD activities (68.2%); difficulty in getting nominated to attend CPD activities (65.5%); and lack of personal funds (65.1%). Furthermore, EMCPs indicated that lack of internet access (45.5%) and poor knowledge of how to use the internet (15.2%) hinder them from accessing the internet for professional learning.ConclusionTo provide the best care to patients, healthcare professionals must commit to lifelong learning. Participating in CPD activities has been endorsed as a means for maintaining and updating professional competence. Identifying and alleviating barriers that limit engagement in CPD activities will ensure that EMCPs attain the required professional competence.

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“…The urgent need for these professionals became even more apparent during and after the epidemic. 5 , 7 , 8…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Globally, declining numbers and activities of physician-scientists over the years, especially in Africa, have been reported [1][2][3][4][5] These scientists complement other researchers in the health sciences and have contributed to the recent advances in medicine which have improved the quality of life and life expectancy globally. By definition, physician scientists are medical graduates with an interest in basic science or clinical research including translational and patient-oriented research as well as the evaluative sciences, who perform this as their primary professional activity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…By definition, physician scientists are medical graduates with an interest in basic science or clinical research including translational and patient-oriented research as well as the evaluative sciences, who perform this as their primary professional activity. [4][5][6] Most of them engage in both clinical work and research, and their unique experience enables them to develop clinically relevant research questions, improve patient recruitment and monitoring during clinical trials and translate research findings into practice. [4][5][6] The Ebola epidemic of West Africa in 2014 revealed a critical gap in research.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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<p>Perspectives on Research Internships for Medical Students and Young Doctors in Ghana: An Opportunity to Replenish the Stock of Physician Investigators?</p>

Tette

Gyan

Koram

2020

AMEP

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The corona virus pandemic undoubtedly demonstrates the growing need for research in medical science. However, with the decline in physician scientists world-wide, innovative ways are needed to engender interest in research among medical students and young doctors to replenish the stock of physician investigators. One way of doing this is to create compulsory and elective projects for them. We describe research internships created for medical students at the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research to expose them to the rudiments of biomedical research and proposal development. We also describe research internships for doctors waiting for house job postings or keen to do research who needed mentorship. Though the response has been positive, the full impact will be realized with time. The recognition that training should be backed with a supportive environment, mentorship and clear career paths for physician scientists is also mentioned.

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The physician-scientists: rare species in Africa

Cited by 10 publications

References 25 publications

A Supervisory Model for Emerging PhDs in Basic Medical Sciences on the African Continent: A Perspective

A Supervisory Model for Emerging PhDs in Basic Medical Sciences on the African Continent: A Perspective

Non-compliance with continuing professional development requirements: Perspectives of emergency medical care practitioners in a resource-poor setting

<p>Perspectives on Research Internships for Medical Students and Young Doctors in Ghana: An Opportunity to Replenish the Stock of Physician Investigators?</p>

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