Doctors in a divided society: the profession and education of medical practitioners in South Africa

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Abstract
Many of the hopes and aspirations of South Africa’s new democracy depend upon the production of professionals who not only have globally competitive knowledge and skills, but are also ‘socially responsible and conscious of their role in contributing to the national development effort and social transformation’ (Ministry of Education 2001: 5). Furthermore, there is a dire need for more black and female professionals, not only to redress the inequities of the past, but also to broaden the consciousness of social formations that tend to be conservative everywhere in the world. In South Africa under apartheid, the professions reflected race and gender hierarchies, and to varying extents they still do. Whether the professions and their education programmes are managing to achieve these ideals is a moot point which the HSRC hopes to address with a series of studies on professions and professional education, of which this is the first. The studies are intended to explore the policy concerns stated above and also to raise issues that have not yet entered policy discourse. They will examine each profession through two theoretical lenses; the first being professional labour markets, both national and international, as well as the wider general labour market in South Africa, while the second focuses on the national and international professional milieu. this resource is useful for scholars, students, and members of the public interested in improving their knowledge on the role of policy in shaping the lives and attitudes of medical practitioners in South Africa.
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