Financial Administrator in the School of Clinical Medicine Dr Valerie Chinniah graduated with a PhD in Human Resource Management. Her study, which was supervised by Professor Ashika Maharaj is entitled: Challenges Facing the Cuban-South African Medical Collaborations for Medical Capacity Building in KwaZulu-Natal. It offers insights into this programme that aimed to address the critical shortage of medical practitioners in rural settings in South Africa.
‘A lot can be learnt from the Cuban-South African medical collaboration especially in terms of the re-engineering of primary health care (PHC) in South Africa and making healthcare more accessible in rural communities,’ said Chinniah. ‘The study, which was conducted in three phases, will be of benefit to policy makers, the Department of Health, tertiary institutions and students.’
She added that the origins of South Africa’s curative medical model lie in the years of colonial rule and hence it is not the best fit for the country and its citizens’ needs.
‘Adopting the Cuban medical model of preventive PHC means changing the culture of medicine and how we approach healthcare. It involves creating effective human resources for health (HRH) based on the specific needs of our population and investing in developing the right skills for HRH with quality and sustainability in mind to retain future doctors and build a community-based patient-centred culture,’ said Chinniah.
Chinniah’s doctoral journey was challenging as she battled with her health and also lost her father which forced her to put her studies on pause.
‘When I started my studies, my health deteriorated and I had to have a surgical procedure which resulted in me suspending a semester until I was well enough to continue. Then the Covid-19 pandemic took its toll on my family and I, especially my children who contracted the virus. My husband was seriously ill and had to be hospitalised. The pandemic also resulted in data collection taking longer than it should have. The loss of my dad, Mr Krishna Govindsamy in 2021 was very traumatic and prompted me to take more time off. However, I pushed on to reach the end in memory of him,’ she said.
Words: Thandiwe Jumo
Photograph: Rajesh Rantilal