Bureaus, Centres and Institutions

Institutes

Two institutes of the Medical Research Council (MRC) reside in the Faculty of Health Sciences, namely the MRC's Unit for Inflammation and Immunity and the MRC's Unit for Maternal and Infant Healthcare Strategies.

Researchers attached to the Unit for Inflammation and Immunity, in collaboration with a medical scientist of the University College in Dublin, have made a significant breakthrough in the treatment of cancer and also in the treatment of multi-drug resistant infective micro-organisms active in diseases such as tuberculosis, pneumonia and malaria. The outstanding results of this unit received recognition by the award of a gold medal by the Medical Research Council to the unit's director in 1999 for continuous excellent achievements in research in the field of immunology, both nationally and internationally. The research focuses on finding solutions in Africa for Africa, in line with the Africa Renaissance initiative of Pres. Thabo Mbeki.

Likewise, researchers attached to the Unit for Maternal and Infant Healthcare Strategies have reached success with their research programme since 1998. The programme focuses on the development of guidelines for more effective postnatal care, intrapartum care, emergency pregnancy care, neonatal care and the termination of pregnancies. The research programmes are aimed at improving the quality of life of pregnant women and of mothers and their infants, particularly those visiting rural clinics and district and regional hospitals. The MRC Unit focuses on the Atteridgeville, Mamelodi, Hammanskraal, and Witbank and Middelburg areas.

Training Centres

Students in their first semester receive pre-clinical training at the University's main campus. After that training continues at the Prinshof Campus adjacent to the Pretoria Academic Hospital. Clinical training, that comprises primary, secondary and tertiary health care, takes place in various hospitals and clinics to ensure students are exposed to an acceptable range of "patient disease mix", and a wide spectrum of facilities. This includes the

• Oral en Dental Hospital
• Pretoria Academic Hospital Complex, that covers the Academic, Maternity, Orthopaedic and Ear, Nose and Throat Hospitals
• Kalafong Academic Hospital
• Weskoppies Psychiatric Hospital
• Witbank Hospital (Mpumalanga)
• Pretoria West Hospital
• 1 Military Hospital
• Mamelodi Hospital
• Tembisa Hospital
• Zuid-Afrikaanse Hospital

The Faculty is also involved in hospitals in various other provinces for community-based education. In North West Province it is the Jubilee, George Stegman, Taung and Tlamalong Hospitals. In Limpopo it is the Mankweng and Tshilindzini Hospitals, and in KwaZulu Natal the Emmaus, Manguzi, Mseleni and Mosfold Hospitals

In addition, the Faculty is involved at various community clinics in Mpumalanga, the Moretele district clinics in Hammanskraal, the Sedibeng Primary Care Unit in Atteridgeville, the Stanza Bopane Clinic in Mamelodi and the Daspoort Polyclinic. The Faculty plans to get involved in many more clinics in the Tshwane metro area. This is to emphasize its commitment to primary health care and community-based education.

To ensure that the postgraduate students are exposed to modern high tech medical equipment, the students also work at the Urology Hospital, the Eye Institute and the Heart hospital. As part of our public-private partnerships, students are also attached to a number of private general practitioners, forming part of their electives.