In 2008, the National Department of Health in South Africa launched a new Clinical Associates Program to increase the number of
mid-level medical professionals in the workforce.
This 3-year degree program produces qualified
professionals — similar to Physician Assistants in the United States — who have the ability to assess patients, make diagnoses, prescribe appropriate treatments, and undertake minor surgical procedures under the supervision of medical officers. The introduction of this new cadre of mid-level workers is serving to strengthen primary healthcare services in the country by bolstering the number of trained healthcare providers working at community health centers and district hospitals.
In early 2010 with support from CDC/South Africa, AIHA launched the first of three university-based partnerships that are designed to strengthen the Clinical Associates programs being offered by each South African institution in an effort to increase the number of mid-level medical professionals in South Africa.
Walter Sisulu University (WSU) and the University of
Colorado School of Medicine are collaborating to strengthen WSU’s Clinical Associates Program through strategic faculty and staff development and mentoring, and by designing, implementing, and evaluating measures that describe the impact of newly graduated Clinical Associates on medical practice in district hospitals on the Eastern Cape. Partners are also working together to strengthen WSU’s capacity to more effectively market, advocate, and make policy recommendations that promote the Clinical Associates profession in South Africa.
Experts from UCD traveled to South Africa in May 2010 for their initial partnership exchange, during which they conducted a thorough needs assessment to help guide upcoming capacity-building activities.
As of October 2011, some key accomplishments of this partnership include conducting faculty development workshops for clinical preceptors and procurement of clinical simulation equipment to assure
improved student training experiences. Partners also completed a faculty training needs assessment survey and participated in the AIHA-sponsored Clinical Associates Forums and Health Professions Education Meeting conducted in
mid-2011. In addition, they drafted evaluation protocols for the clinical site survey and selected principle investigators from WSU.
In the coming year, their efforts will focus on continued faculty development and implementation of the site survey, including hiring a local research coordinator to manage data collection activities. AIHA will support the partnership by recruiting mentors through the Volunteer Healthcare Corps (VHC) who will be placed in the Eastern Cape for two-month periods to provide technical assistance and mentorship on research and clinical skills acquisition, as well as provision of evidence-based medical resources through its Learning Resource Center (LRC) project.
AIHA established two more Clinical Associates partnerships in 2010-2011. In addition to overall management of these partnership programs, AIHA also actively supports collaboration and networking among all three partnerships to further bolster this emerging profession in South Africa.
Updated August 3, 2010
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