African journal of primary health care & family medicine
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Afr J Prim Health Care Fam Med · May 2017
Reaching national consensus on the core clinical skill outcomes for family medicine postgraduate training programmes in South Africa.
Family physicians play a significant role in the district health system and need to be equipped with a broad range of clinical skills in order to meet the needs and expectations of the communities they serve. A previous study in 2007 reached national consensus on the clinical skills that should be taught in postgraduate family medicine training prior to the introduction of the new speciality. Since then, family physicians have been trained, employed and have gained experience of working in the district health services. The national Education and Training Committee of the South African Academy of Family Physicians, therefore, requested a review of the national consensus on clinical skills for family medicine training. ⋯ The findings will guide training programmes on the skills to be addressed and ensure consistency across training programmes nationally. The consensus will also guide formative assessment as documented in the national portfolio of learning and summative assessment in the national exit examination. The consensus will be of interest to other countries in the region where training programmes in family medicine are developing.
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Afr J Prim Health Care Fam Med · Mar 2016
Perceptions of doctors and nurses at a Ugandan hospital regarding the introduction and use of the South African Triage Scale.
International Hospital Kampala (IHK) experienced a challenge with how to standardise the triaging and sorting of patients. There was no triage tool to help to prioritise which patients to attend to first, with very sick patient often being missed. ⋯ Adequate nurse staffing, a computer application for automated coding of patients, and regular training would encourage consistent use and sustainability of SATS. Setting up a hospital committee to review signs and symptoms would increase acceptability and sustainability. SATS is valuable in the IHK setting because it improved overall efficiency of triaging and care, with significantly more strengths than weaknesses.