Africa-Press – South-Africa. The Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) has finally secured dates for the medical board examinations that will enable students trained abroad to write exams which will enable them to practise medicine in South Africa.
The council, which regulates the education, training and registration of all health professionals in the country, said a contract had been signed with the University of KwaZulu Natal (UKZN) to manage the HPCSA medical board exams for the next three years.
Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University previously managed the medical board examinations, but its contract expired following several extensions.
Early this month, about 250 frustrated junior doctors trained in China, Italy, Mauritius, Russia and other countries marched to HPCSA’s office in Pretoria to demand that the council provide them with a date for when they would sit for the board exams.
HPCSA spokesperson Christopher Tsatsawane said they started a supply chain management process for a replacement service provider in March 2022.
Only one bidder, UKZN, responded to the bid, but the university was rejected because it did not meet the requirements to accept students who studied overseas.
Another closed bid was then advertised in July 2022. Again, UKZN applied and was rejected.
A year later, there still was no successful bidder.
It was only after the council relaxed the rules that UKZN was considered for the project and appointed as a service provider.
Tsatsawane said a deviation from normal procurement processes was sought to allow negotiations with UKZN to provide guidance and ensure that requirements were met.
HPCSA registrar Magome Masike said the council regrets the delay in arranging the board medical examinations.
Masike said:
He said the theory exams would be held on 25 October at UKZN’s Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine.
The practical exams will be held between 5 and 8 December at the George Campbell Building at Howard College.
Masike said applicants who meet the requirements would be invited to sit for the examination soon.
News24 spoke to two junior doctors waiting to write their exams and who marched to the HPCSA offices.
Dr Tefiso Molefe, who studied in Russia and had been waiting to write the exams for a year, was relieved by the good news.
Molefe said:
Dr Bongiwe Shongwe, who also studied in Russia and had been waiting for a year to write exams, did not expect things to happen so quickly.
“However, we are happy it is finally happening. There is a bit of panic as we must start revising to prepare for the exams. Most people had given up after studying for a year and no dates were released. However, we will give it our all because we have been waiting for this moment for far too long,” she said.
News24 reached out to UKZN for comment which will be added once received.
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