Western Cape health industry students shine

Keith Loynes, left, Chief Planner FET Colleges (Western Cape Education Department) and top phlebotomy graduate, Lungelwa Magwebu.

The students, from the PathCare Academy in Cape Town, did so by substantial margins too, scoring an 88% pass rate on the Phlebotomy Technicians' exam, compared to the national average of 55%. Distinctions were achieved by 50% of the academy's student technicians too.

There was a graduation ceremony at the Cape Town City Hall last week. The guest speaker, Keith Loynes, chief planner FET Colleges (WCED), congratulated the academy on achieving “a comprehensive and successful response to the skills shortage in South Africa”. He said that specialised in-house training not only ensured that the company developed the skills they needed internally, but also topped up skills in the rest of that sector and supported public institutions, which have been struggling to achieve such results for years.

Equity targets

The academy is also assisting the organisation with meeting employment-equity targets and providing opportunities to individuals who were historically disadvantaged. Some 95% of the students at the Academy are from previously disadvantaged backgrounds.

The Academy for Training and Development was established in Cape Town in February 2006 to help address skills shortage, in general, and shortages in the pathology sector in particular. Candidates from the general public are invited to apply for the academy's courses and, if selected, will pay no tuition or study fees. They are paid a monthly stipend to work within the company under supervision in their chosen field, while they learn. On completion of programmes, successful students take up full-time employment at PathCare.

Amongst the graduates were the newly qualified class of phlebotomy technicians - from a two-year course first introduced in South Africa in 2006. The class of qualified phlebotomists were part of a group of 80 students who graduated in various programmes related to diagnostic pathology.

Apart from the phlebotomists, the Academy offers students the opportunity to become medical technologists, medical laboratory technicians, medical clerks and data capturers.

The CEO, Dr John Douglass, commented: “The academy acts a training centre for the approximately 2000 permanently employed PathCare staff members throughout South Africa. Each year, on average, 3000 short-course participants benefit from the many programmes on offer.”

Vigorous selection process

Eric Spencer, head of the Human Resources Division attributes the high scores to a vigorous selection process and close mentoring and supervision.

New 2009 programme

In 2009 the academy will be introducing another new full-length programme: Certificate in Laboratory Assistance (NQF level 3).

The Academy offers a number of full-length programmes for new entrants into the labour market: learnerships, certificate programmes, work/study programmes and bursaries/internships provide individuals with skills in technical, professional and support areas of health care.