Healthcare understaffing in South Africa has become a significant concern, with over 2,000 unfunded posts for medical doctors and accusations that 800 qualified doctors cannot find work. The country has increased the training of doctors over the past decade, causing a bottleneck in the public health system. While medical student intake has risen, the capacity for training other health worker categories has decreased.
Professor Shabir Madhi from the University of Witwatersrand emphasizes that simply training more health workers will not solve the current understaffing crisis. The focus should be on incorporating existing graduates into the public sector. Moreover, despite campaign promises, there are limitations on expanding training due to a lack of suitable facilities and personnel.
This insight challenges the belief that building more medical campuses and increasing student intake is a viable solution. Madhi concludes that politicians may not fully understand the complexities of establishing effective training programs in the health sciences.
This article was originally published by Spotlight
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