Master of Medicine in Radiology

Purpose

The purpose of this qualification is to provide skills and knowledge necessary to equip learners for professional service in the context of the health needs of the population and also to produce learners who are socially accountable.

Rationale

The qualification provides the learners with specialised knowledge and competence in science and practice in specialist clinical disciplines to enable registration with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) as a specialist and prepare them to contribute to the development and dissemination of knowledge at an advanced level by fostering scholarship, and intellectual independence, equipping them with skills and knowledge relevant to the practice of research and professional communication. Finally, the qualification is aimed at producing competent learners for admission to doctoral programmes and prepare them from life of self-directed continuing learning, reflective practice and professional development.

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)

The institution accepts the principle underlying outcomes-based, source-based and life-long learning, in which considerations of articulation and mobility play a significant role, and subscribes to the view that Recognition of Prior Learning, whether acquired by formal education curricula at this or another institution or informally (by experience) is an indispensable element in deciding on admission to and awarding credits in an explicitly selected teaching-learning qualification of the institution.

An applicant who falls outside of the formal qualifications system, but who can demonstrate (through the production of substantial and satisfactory evidence) experiential or work-based learning or a non-formal qualification (or a combination), may be considered for admission and/or for the Recognition of Prior Learning for the achievement of the qualification in part or in full. An applicant who after such assessment, is deemed to have sufficient potential, but is in need of further academic development, must be directed to other suitable learning qualifications prior to admission or to parallel qualifications after admission.

Entry Requirements

The minimum entry requirement for this qualification is the

• Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery, with two years' experience including Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) requirements National Qualifications Framework (NQF) Level 8.

This qualification comprises of compulsory modules at National Qualifications Framework (NQF) Level 9 totalling at 720 Credits.

Compulsory Modules, Level 9, 720 Credits

• Radiology Clinical and Professional Practical 1, 270 Credits.
• Research Methodology, 16 Credits.
• Radiology Clinical and Prof Prac 2, 270 Credits.
• Research Project, 164 Credits.

Clinical competence

1. Show clinical competence in diagnosis and management of disorders appropriate to the discipline.
2. Demonstrate competence in procedures.
3. Ensure maintenance of high ethical standards in practice and research.
4. Benchmark clinical practice against international standards, using available evidence Scholarship.
5. Demonstrate academic literacy in terms of critical thinking, the ability to access appropriate learning resources, formulate a research proposal, conduct the research and communicate the findings to the academic community.

Generic attributes competence in

1. Communication skills.
2. Creating and sustaining harmonious and effective service delivery teams.
3. Leadership in health provision.
4. Health advocacy.
5. mentoring junior colleagues in the area of specialty.
6. Dealing with complex issues both systemically and creatively.
7. Demonstrating self-direction and originality in tackling and solving problems.
8. Exercising sound judgement in the use of data and information.
9. Acting autonomously in planning implementing professional tasks.

• Interact with text (oral and written) through critical listening/reading skills.
• Produce texts which integrate information from different sources using appropriate academic and professional conventions.
• Interpret and generate numerical data in various formats.
• Apply numerical data to research and clinical practice.
• Take a medical history at a level appropriate to the specialty and communicate the findings and treatment options effectively with the patient and referring doctor.
• Determine signs and symptoms of disease or injury and perform advanced physical examination appropriate to the level of a specialist in the field.
• Use cost-effective investigations which provide sufficient relevant information to aid diagnosis.
• Gather information from various sources, reflect critically on knowledge and information and in consultation with the patient and other health care professions (where appropriate) plan and implement to completion a treatment option.
• Initiate and complete a research project.

Integrated Assessment

The qualification is comprehensively assessed, particularly at exit level where the exit examinations are independently offered by the Colleges of Medicine of South Africa (CMSA) in accordance with national practice. Assessments address knowledge, skills and behaviours using a range of assessment modalities.

All Summative Assessment for the non-research component of the degree, covering the clinical and professional practice are independently undertaken by the CMSA. Internal assessment is therefore formative and is conducted by the academic staff teaching the module, which in the context of this Degree, includes both the academic and those staff who supervises the work-integrated learning components of the qualification, and is accredited to the institution for this purpose. The Research Methodology module is internally assessed on the basis of satisfactory completion of a project. The Research module is assessed on the basis of satisfactory publication of a research budget in a peer-reviewed journal, or by the submission of a dissertation which is examined externally. The assessment process is both formative and summative. Formative assessment comprises of on-going continuous assessments by clinical and academic supervisors, clinical and theoretical presentations, grand round case presentations and professional portfolio reviews.

Summative Assessments include written papers, oral and clinical examinations. Assessments are blueprinted, and the modalities and extent of assessment are explicitly defined and visible to the student; being recorded in detail in both the programme and module templates, and in the guidelines published by the CMSA. The CMSA runs regular assessment workshops and places a strong emphasis on validity and reliability. In addition to the summative assessments set by the CMSA, learners are required to keep a personal portfolio and participate in a programme of regular, frequent formative assessment with both trainers and the. Progress is recorded, and discussed with the student in a private interview, thus providing timely feedback to the student and trainer. All portfolios are reviewed and students interviewed by the academic in charge of the programme biannually. This allows prediction of future performance and identification of special learning needs, and the identification of common threads which may be fed back to inform either the process of teaching and learning or the curriculum itself. The results of summative assessment are returned to the discipline by the CMSA with specific information in the case of learners who have performed poorly. This information is reviewed within the programme and used both to direct the further learning of the student and for purposes of curricular improvement. This programme is further subject to inspection and accreditation by Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) every 5 years.

The workplace-based learning constitutes the major proportion of the credits for the programme. Clarity on roles. These roles are unambiguous. Learners are assigned to provincial health-care institutions, and are simultaneously employed full-time by the provincial Department of Health with the rank of registrar. It is the learner's responsibility to provide clinical service to the public as an employee of the Department of Health, as directed by the Head of Clinical Unit or of Clinical Department under whom he or she operates.

In order for the identified assessment purposes on ensuring that a learner has obtained the necessary competence to be achieved, three 3-hour written papers, case reporting examination, oral examination (2 sessions), Formative assessment, research project' submission of satisfactory research dissertation or publication forms part of the assessment methods.