WITS LAUNCHES FIRST RURAL HEALTH CAREER DAY

Mar 04, 2010
ISSUED BY:WITS

The first Wits Rural Health Career Day in North West Province
will take place on Friday, 5 March 2010 in Mafikeng.

While shortages of health care professionals are a national
problem, rural areas are disproportionally affected. North West is
the province with the lowest doctor-to-patient ratio in the
country. International evidence has shown that one strategy to
increase human resources for health in rural areas is to recruit
health science students of rural origin.

Therefore, the Wits Division of Rural Health in partnership with
the North West Departments of Health and Education has taken the
initiative to organise a Rural Health Career Day to create
awareness and enthusiasm among rural learners in North West with
regards to choosing a career in health science.

Integrated into the career day will be a health promotion
component. The initiative forms part of the Division's social
responsibility plan to empower students from the communities
involved in terms of future career options and lifestyle choices.

The career day is offered to grade 12 learners based in the
Ngaka Modiri Molema district. Final year medical students based in
North West together with senior students from the other major
departments in the faculty (pharmacy, occupational therapy,
physiotherapy, dentistry, clinical associates, physiology), will
facilitate activities in the form of a series of mini-workshops on
career options focusing on programmes offered by the faculty, as
well as on teenage pregnancy, substance abuse, sexually transmitted
infections and other topics that are relevant to young people.

About 300 grade 12 learners from 80 schools are expected to
attend this first career day of its kind. If successful, the model
will be rolled out to other districts in the largely rural North
West province.

This follows the recent launch of another partnership initiative
between the Wits Centre for Rural Health and the North West
Department of Health: the grant-funded development of a District
Education Campus at Lehurutse Hospital Complex in Zeerust, which is
also in the Ngaka Modiri Molema District of North West Province.

Choosing a health-oriented career is further facilitated by the
North West Department of Health bursary scheme and WIRHE (Wits
Initiative for Rural Health Education) Scholarship for rural
students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Selecting students of rural origin and training them in rural
areas are critical steps towards rural health improvements. North
West is setting an example for other provinces to follow.

For more information on the Career Day and WIRHE, contact Ntsiki
Sondzaba on 082 414 8766, email Nontsikelelo.Sondzaba@wits.ac.za or
Marije Versteeg on 074 106 3800 or email
Marije.versteeg@wits.ac.za.

Also visit
web.wits.ac.za/Academic/Health/Entities/RuralHealth/