A survey of trainee specialists experiences at the University of Cape Town (UCT): Impacts of race and gender

London, Leslie; Kalula, Sebastiana; Xaba, Bonga

doi:10.1186/1472-6920-9-26

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 31 publications

(31 reference statements)

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“…It also expands upon similar investigations in South Africa [2, 19, 26–28]. The experiences of these doctors suggest that if the organisational culture of training institutions is experienced as alienating to Black professionals, simply increasing the number of Black trainees does not solve the problem of a sustainably diverse medical workforce.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 64%

“…Specialist medical training is a lengthy, arduous process for all registrars (specialist medical trainees, known as residents in some parts of Europe and the USA), but Black registrars may experience the training environment as especially challenging or unwelcoming [19]. In a study of the experiences of Black residents in specialist training at a United States medical school, Liebschutz et al [20], report that Black residents may experience both overt and covert discrimination from both colleagues and patients.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Race trouble: experiences of Black medical specialist trainees in South Africa

Thackwell

Swartz

Dlamini

et al. 2016

BMC Int Health Hum Rights

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BackgroundThis research aimed to identify and explore the experiences of Black registrars in their training in the Western Cape’s academic hospitals in order to identify structures, practices, attitudes and ideologies that may promote or impede the advancement of Black doctors into specialist medicine. This is justified by the requirement for universities to work towards monitoring and evaluating efforts to create non-discriminatory and inclusive training environments.MethodsThis study employed qualitative research methods. Ten Black African medical specialists were interviewed about their training experiences in two university training hospitals in the Western Cape Province, South Africa. Interview data was collected using open-ended questions and coded and analysed using thematic and critical discursive analysis techniques.ResultsFour experiential themes emerged from the interview data, they included: 1) experiences of everyday racism during work hours, 2) the physical and psychological effects of tokenism and an increased need to perform, 3) institutional racism as a result of inconsistent and unclear methods of promotion and clinical competence building, and 4) an organisational culture that was experienced as having a race and gender bias.ConclusionThis is a pilot study and there are limits on the generalizability of the data due to the small sample. What is clear from our participants, though, is the strong experiential component of finding it challenging to be a Black trainee in a White-dominated profession. We are undertaking further research to explore the issues raised in more detail.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 64%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Race trouble: experiences of Black medical specialist trainees in South Africa

Thackwell

Swartz

Dlamini

et al. 2016

BMC Int Health Hum Rights

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“…7 It could be argued that the anaesthesia workplace merely reflects factors in wider society that contribute to maintaining gender inequity, including cultures and structures that reinforce gender norms related to domestic responsibilities and caregiving. 8 The present norms support a social system that is historically built around patriarchal domination, problematising childbearing and preventing gender equity, [9][10][11][12][13][14] and until we address the 'caregiver problem' 11 we cannot meaningfully challenge gender inequity in the medical workforce. This requires an understanding of 'familyfriendly' practices and policies, those 'that help to balance and benefit both work and family life'.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The gap between attitudes and processes related to ‘family-friendly’ practices in anaesthesia training in New Zealand: A survey of anaesthesia supervisors of training and departmental directors

Carter

Garden

2020

Anaesth Intensive Care

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Gender inequity persists within the anaesthetic workforce, despite approaching numerical parity in Australia and New Zealand. There is evidence, from anaesthesia and the wider health workforce, that domestic gender norms regarding parental responsibilities contribute to this. The creation of ‘family-friendly’ workplaces may be useful in driving change, a concept reflected in the gender equity action plan developed by the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists. This study aimed to explore the extent to which a family-friendly culture exists within anaesthesia training in New Zealand, from the perspective of leaders in anaesthesia departments. An electronic survey composed of quantitative and qualitative questions was emailed to all supervisors of training, rotational supervisors and departmental directors at Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists accredited training hospitals in New Zealand. Twenty-eight of the 71 eligible participants responded (response rate 39%). The majority (61%) agreed with the statement ‘our department has a “family friendly” approach to anaesthesia trainees’; however, there was a discrepancy between views about how departments should be and how they actually are. Several barriers contributing to this discrepancy were identified, including workforce logistics, governance, departmental structures and attitudes. Uncertainty in responses regarding aspects of working hours, parental leave and the use of domestic sick leave reflect gaps in understanding, with scope for further enquiry and education. To redress gender bias seriously through the development of family-friendly policies and practices requires supportive governance and logistics, along with some cultural change.

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“…Academics moving from such arenas bring with them experience, insights and commitment to train health professionals to be sensitive to health and human rights issues and to inspire students to work in the public and NGO sectors. In addition, incorporating findings from research investigating discrimination within the university into teaching programmes (Perez & London 2004;Ismail 2007;London et al 2009a) has played an important role in informing the university's own strategies for transformation as well as locating research directly in a rights context within the institution.…”

Section: Outreach and Advocacy In Health And Human Rightsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Health and Human Rights: New challenges for social responsiveness

2009

Self Cite

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South Africa’s struggle against apartheid discrimination, including struggles in the health sector, laid the basis for a vibrant engagement of staff and students in human rights research, teaching and outreach in the Health Sciences Faculty at the University of Cape Town (UCT). This article provides a brief overview of this background context, then shows how this engagement has continued with new challenges emerging in the post-apartheid democratic period. Teaching at undergraduate and postgraduate levels has been complemented by a programme of ‘Training the Trainers’ in health and human rights. The programme targets teachers of health professionals at institutions in South and Southern Africa, resulting in national adoption of human rights competencies as an essential component of health professionals’ skills base. Research has also extended lessons learnt from the apartheid period into work with vulnerable groups, such as rural farm workers and the deaf, and seeks to build the capacity of marginal populations to change the conditions of their vulnerability in order to realize their rights. Partnerships with civil society organisations have been a strong thread, creating new knowledge and new ways of joint work towards realizing the right to health, including advocacy engagement in civil society movements and regional networks. Further, a focus on health professionals’ practice, in terms of dealing with potential dual loyalty conflicts and their role as gatekeepers in the health services on matters of patients’ rights, has shaped the research agenda. This article illustrates how knowledge production for the public good extends beyond notions of enhancing economic productivity for national development and provides a base for transdisciplinary and transinstitutional engagement. Additionally, non-traditional forms of knowledge networking and transfer have also been explored, including engagement with policy-makers and health managers. Finally, it is shown how the portfolio of social responsiveness activities in the health and human rights envelope has offered significant and novel mutual benefits to the University and the community.

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A survey of trainee specialists experiences at the University of Cape Town (UCT): Impacts of race and gender

Cited by 5 publications

References 31 publications

Race trouble: experiences of Black medical specialist trainees in South Africa

Race trouble: experiences of Black medical specialist trainees in South Africa

The gap between attitudes and processes related to ‘family-friendly’ practices in anaesthesia training in New Zealand: A survey of anaesthesia supervisors of training and departmental directors

Health and Human Rights: New challenges for social responsiveness

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