Rising to the challenge: Training the next generation of clinician scientists for South Africa
Open accessAbstract
Background. A shortage of clinician scientists globally, particularly in the developing world, including Africa and South Africa (SA), is well known and was recently highlighted in a consensus report by the Academy of Science of South Africa. There is a need to find innovative ways to develop and advance clinician scientists in SA. Objective. To provide opportunities for young clinicians to develop research skills through enrolling for a PhD. Method. To address this need in SA, we developed an innovative programme over 2 years in collaboration with the Carnegie Corporation of New York to support and train young specialist clinicians in research as the next generation of clinician scientists, through a full-time PhD programme. Results. Since initiation of the programme in March 2011, 16 such specialists have been enrolled at intervals in the Fellowship programme, 5 have qualified with PhDs, while a further 3 are expected to qualify shortly. Publications and presentations at congresses have been recorded as well as grant applications. Discussion. Although the programme is seen as an important initial step in addressing the shortage of clinician scientists, its dependence on donor funding and the lack of a secure career path for clinicians wishing to spend more of their career in research pose problems for the programme’s sustainability. It is hoped that the positive outcomes of this experience will initiate further programmes of this kind at academic institutions and attract the attention of funders and universities in order to sustain and enlarge this initiative.
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The University of Witwatersrand-Carnegie PhD Programme provides 2-year funding for clinicians with MMed or MChD to pursue a PhD.
“For example, the University of Witwatersrand-Carnegie PhD Programme provides 2-year funding for clinicians with MMed (master of medicine) or MChD (Medicinae ac Chirurgiae Doctoranda) to pursue a PhD [19].”
From The dentist-scientist career pathway in Africa: opportunities and obstacles (2018) · cites this paper as [19]
The Methods section describes a Carnegie-funded PhD fellowship at the University of the Witwatersrand lasting two years, with a stipend for clinicians who hold a medical degree and MMed specialist qualification. It does not mention MChD as an eligible qualification. (LLM, conf=0.88)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredLack of personnel is a factor responsible for the ultra-low count of dentist-scientists in Africa.
“There are several factors responsible for the ultra-low count of dentist-scientist in the heterogeneous African communities such as: poor biomedical research infrastructure; lack of funding; absence of structured dentist scientist career pathways; lack of personnel, inter alia.”
From The dentist-scientist career pathway in Africa: opportunities and obstacles (2018) · cites this paper as [19]
The Short report (page not specified) identifies a lack of clinically trained research scientists in Africa, supporting the general point about a personnel shortage. It does not discuss dentist-scientists specifically or establish lack of personnel as a cause of their low numbers. (LLM, conf=0.76)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredIn sub-Saharan Africa, there is a lack of clinically trained dental-research scientists and minimal or no support for those existing.
“In the sub-Saharan African region, there is lack of clinically trained dentalresearch scientists and minimal or no support for those existing [19].”
From The dentist-scientist career pathway in Africa: opportunities and obstacles (2018) · cites this paper as [19]
The Short report says that Africa lacks clinically trained research scientists and support for those who do exist. It does not identify dental researchers specifically, so the claim's dental qualification is not supported by this source. (LLM, conf=0.88)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredA decline in medical/clinical research output and capacity has been found in Africa as a result of low counts of clinician-scientists.
“A decline in medical/clinical research output and capacity has been found in Africa as a result of low counts of clinician-scientists [19].”
From The dentist-scientist career pathway in Africa: opportunities and obstacles (2018) · cites this paper as [19]
The Short report describes a serious decline in clinical research activity and capacity in South Africa, while its opening passage identifies a shortage of clinically trained research scientists in Africa. It does not establish that research output declined across Africa or that the shortage caused the decline. (LLM, conf=0.86)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredCurrently, there are no support structures established in the medical training programmes of many African countries for doctors and dentists to transition into physician-scientist career track, except for a few emerging programmes in South Africa.
“Currently, there are no support structures established in the medical training programmes of many African countries for doctors and dentists to transition into physician-scientist career track [6]; except for a few emerging programmes being initiated by academic institutions in South Africa, as alluded to earlier [19,38].”
From The dentist-scientist career pathway in Africa: opportunities and obstacles (2018) · cites this paper as [19]
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Cites
Brass, L. F., Akabas, M. H., Burnley, L. D., Engman, D. M., Wiley, C. A., & Andersen, O. S. (2010) · Academic Medicine · doi:10.1097/acm.0b013e3181d3ca17 · Cited by 220 · see citing works
Physician Scientist Training in the United States
Kosik, R. O., Tran, D. T., Fan, A. P.-C., et al. (2014) · Evaluation & the Health Professions · doi:10.1177/0163278714527290 · Cited by 64 · see citing works
An MBPhD programme in the UK: the UCL experience
Stewart, G. W. (2012) · Clinical Medicine · doi:10.7861/clinmedicine.12-6-526 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Monitoring the Clinician Scientist Scheme
Tunbridge, M. (2004) · Clinical Medicine · doi:10.7861/clinmedicine.4-2-141 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Training Intensivists and Clinician-Scientists for the 21st Century: The Oregon Scholars Program
Juvé, A. M., Kirsch, J. R., & Swide, C. E. (2010) · Journal of Graduate Medical Education · doi:10.4300/jgme-d-10-00087.1 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
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The dentist-scientist career pathway in Africa: opportunities and obstacles
Adeola, H. A., Adefuye, A., Soyele, O., & Butali, A. (2018) · Korean Journal of Medical Education · doi:10.3946/kjme.2018.93 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
“In the sub-Saharan African region, there is lack of clinically trained dentalresearch scientists and minimal or no support for those existing [19].”
BackgroundInfluential
- Authors
- Kramer, B., Veriava, Y., & Pettifor, J. M.
- Affiliations
- University of the Witwatersrand (ZA)
- Venue
- African Journal of Health Professions Education
- Published
- 2015-11-21
- Volume
- 7
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 153
- ISSN
- 2078-5127 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2195297146
- Cited by
- 8
- References
- 5
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2021: 1 · 2018: 3 · 2015: 1
- FWCI
- 1.43
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- diamond
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by-nc
- Locations
- African Journal of Health Professions Education (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- Carnegie Corporation of New York
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Health and Medical Research Impacts
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Innovations in Medical Education
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Diversity and Career in Medicine
- Keywords
- clinician-scientists, research training, doctoral programs, research capacity building, research fellowships, donor dependence, South Africa
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