Wits medical students excel in specialist examinations

Students from the School of Medicine in the Faculty of Health Sciences excelled in the examination, contributing 75 specialists and 13 sub-specialists to the health care pool in the country. In some sub-specialities Wits was the only contributor nationwide. A total of 210 candidates completed the specialist examination nationwide, while 21 candidates completed the sub-specialists examination nationwide.

This makes Wits the largest producer of specialists and sub-specialists in South Africa with 80% of Wits students passing the Fellowship of the College of Physicians clinical examinations, in comparison with the national average pass rate of 50%.

"This could not have happened without the commitment of highly skilled lectures who rise above the challenges they face in clinical service delivery," says Professor Mkhululi Lukhele, Head of the School of Clinical Medicine at Wits.

In the specialists category 14 Wits candidates were successful in the internal medicine (specialist physician) examination; five passed as general surgeon specialists; seven as radiology specialists; 15 as ophthalmology specialists; five as orthopaedic surgery specialists; 11 as paediatric specialists; two in the radiation oncology speciality; two as neurology specialists; six in obstetrics and gynaecology as speciality; one as a dermatology specialist; and eight as emergency medicine specialists. A Wits student was also the only one who passed as a cardiothoracic surgery specialist.

Thirteen Wits candidates made the cut in the sub-specialist category: three passed with 100% pass rate as nephrology sub-specialists; three as cardiology sub-specialists; one as a vascular surgeon sub-specialist; one as a gastroenterology surgery sub-specialist; one as a trauma surgery sub-specialist; one as a pulmonology sub-specialist; one in critical care in paediatrics; and two in geriatrics.

Wits was the only institution who had candidates completing the vascular surgery, gastroenterology surgery, trauma surgery, pulmonology, critical care in paediatrics and geriatrics sub-speciality examinations.

The Colleges of Medicine of South Africa is the custodian of the quality of medical care in South Africa and is unique in the world in that it embraces 28 constituent Colleges representing all the disciplines of medicine and dentistry.