Wits boasts with best School of Medicine results

University of Witwatersrand (Wits) pupils towered head and shoulders above the rest in the Colleges of Medicine of South Africa examination held in October last year.

The School of Medicine pupils 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 while 21 candidates completed the sub-specialists examination nationally.

This made Wits the largest producer of specialists and sub-specialists in South Africa with 80% of its pupils 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 lecturers who rise above the challenges they face in clinical service delivery,” Professor Mkhululi Lukhele, Head of the School of Clinical Medicine at Wits said.

This is how the pupils fared:

• In the specialists category 14 candidates were successful in the internal medicine (specialist physician) examination

• Five passed as general surgeon specialists, seven as radiology specialists

• Fifteen as ophthalmology specialists

• Five as orthopaedic surgery specialists

• Eleven as paediatric specialists

• Two in the radiation oncology speciality

• Two as neurology specialists

• Six in obstetrics and gynaecology as speciality

• One as a dermatology specialis, and eight as emergency medicine specialists

• One was also the only candidate who passed as a cardiothoracic surgery specialist

Thirteen Wits candidates made the cut in the sub-specialist category:

• Three achieved 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

• Two in geriatrics

Wits is the only institution with 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 uniquely embraces 28 constituent Colleges representing all the disciplines of medicine and dentistry.