Medical training at SMU advanced with Netcare donation

Present at the handover were, from left to right: Mr Henry Human, Department of Anatomy at SMU; Prof Gboyega Adebola Ogunbanjo, Acting Director Medical Faculty at SMU; Mande Toubkin, Director of the Netcare Foundation; Ben Rood, Hospital General Manager at Netcare Pretoria East Hospital; Prof Olalekan Ayo-Yusuf, Acting Executive Dean at SMU; Tumi Nkosi, Director of the Netcare Foundation; and Dr Andre Meyer, Department of Plastic surgery at SMU.

Henry Human, head of SMU's Anatomy Department, says the cold room is a freezer facility for cadavers, an integral part of the training for postgraduate students and even qualified specialists. SMU is the first South African university to have established such a facility on such a large scale.

"Cadavers, which are human bodies used for medical training and research, are usually preserved through embalming. However, this method of preservation does not always enable optimal training. Embalming causes the bodies' tissues to become too firm and does not give the students a true feeling for the procedures they will one day perform on living people. The colours and textures of the tissues in an embalmed cadaver are also very different to how they will appear in a living patient," he says.

"It is important that students are 100% sure of procedures by preparing for them in conditions that are as close as possible to those they will encounter when working on a live patient."

Government separated the Medical University of Southern Africa (Medunsa) and the University of Limpopo, with the standalone Medunsa campus, in Garankuwa, becoming the SMU. It opened in January this year and was officially launched earlier this month.

Tumi Nkosi, director of business development and corporate affairs and a director of the Netcare Foundation, said as an organisation that values the important role of healthcare professionals, it was pleased to contribute to the ongoing education of medical students that will one day play a significant role in serving the healthcare needs of the nation.

"As a committed healthcare stakeholder, Netcare contributes to the normalisation of healthcare delivery in our country through a number of initiatives. We are passionate about healthcare education and we view the development of healthcare skills as an invaluable instrument in achieving such normalisation."

An example of the company's commitment to education in the healthcare sector in South Africa is the Hamilton Naki Scholarship. To date, this has been awarded to eight South African specialists from disadvantaged backgrounds and it will enable them to undertake doctoral or post-doctoral training and research at leading local or overseas institutions for three or more years. The scholarship is awarded under the umbrella of the Physician Partnerships Trust, which forms part of Netcare's Health Partners for Life.

"This donation is a tangible gesture to assist in advancing healthcare in our country. We wish the SMU students tenacity and strength in the long hours of study that await them," concludes Nkosi.