10/26/2023 Grand Rounds

The experience of Black medical specialists in training at two universities in the Western Cape, South Africa

Speaker:

Nokulunga Shabalala, PhD

Laudation by Prof. Leslie Swartz (PhD supervisor)

Through a decolonial lens, Shabalala explored the experiences of Black trainees in various medical specialties. She shows that Black medical specialists in training undergo a range of subtle exclusions and disavowals in their training settings. The experience of race deeply affects the ways in which people who have historically been excluded enter and struggle to inhabit contemporary spheres of power. The candidate makes exceptional use of her own reflexivity as a Black healthcare professional to collect and analyze rich and complex data.

Learning Objectives:
    1. Describe the experience of Black medical trainees and the resultant barriers to equitable healthcare provision in South Africa
    2. Identify factors that impede successful throughput rates of Black trainees.
    3. Highlight recommendations for a way forward in terms of deep transformation in medical education in South Africa.