Master of Medicine in Virology

Purpose

This qualification provides graduates with knowledge, skills and applied competence in Virology sufficient to allow registration with the Health Professions Council of SA as a specialist Virologist. It aims to provide graduates with the foundation for continued personal and intellectual growth, gainful economic activity and for contributing to society at large through advanced patient care, innovation, scholarship and leadership in the field of Virology.

Rationale

This professional Master's Degree will

1. Provide skills and knowledge necessary to equip graduates for professional service in the context of the health needs of the population.
2. Produce graduates who are socially accountable.
3. Provide graduates 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.
4. Prepare graduates 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.
5. Produce competent graduates for admission to doctoral programmes.
6. Prepare the graduate for a 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.

Entry Requirements

The minimum entry requirement for this qualification is

• Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBChB) or equivalent.
• Two years' experience.
• HPCSA registration.

This qualification consists of the following compulsory modules at Level 9, totalling 720 Credits.

• Research Methodology, 16 Credits.
• Virology Clinical and Professional Practice, 270 Credits.
• Virology Clinical and Professional Practice 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 related to the discipline.
3. Ensure maintenance of high ethical standards in practice and research.
4. Benchmark clinical practice against international standards, using available evidence.

Scholarship

1. Demonstrate academic literacy in terms of critical thinking; the ability to access appropriate learning resources.
2. Formulate a research proposal.
3. Conduct research and communicate the findings to the academic community.

Generic attributes for professionals

1. Communicate with a range of audiences.
2. Create and sustain harmonious and effective service delivery teams.
3. Play a leadership in health provision.
4. Carry out Health advocacy.
5. Mentor junior colleagues in the area of specialty.
6. Deal with complex issues both systematically and creatively.
7. Demonstrate self-direction and originality in tackling and solving problems.
8. Exercising sound judgement in the use of data and information.
9. Act autonomously in planning and implementing professional tasks.

Associated Assessment Criteria

• 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

In order to achieve assessment purposes for this qualification, the following forms of formative assessment strategies are utilised:

• Performance as a service-provider in the clinical workplace.
• Assessment of class preparation and participation.
• Individual and group written assignments.
• Individual and group oral presentations.
• Work placed based assessment and a professional portfolio.

The development of generic competencies such as communication skills, collaboration, professionalism and ethics, scholarly activity, health advocacy, leadership and management are monitored in a process of continuous formative assessment, oral interviews and in the setting of the final examination.

Summative assessment is in the form of the part one and part two institution and/or College of Medicine of South Africa (CMSA) examinations as well as the assessment methodology for the research module. The part one and part two examinations are conducted by the institution and/or CMSA. As there are no part one CMSA examinations available in Virology, examinations are set by the institution. Part two examinations are conducted by CMSA, however, the institution may set examinations for any Supernumerary Registrars who are eligible to write the part two examinations.

In order to satisfy the requirements for the Research Methodology module, the learner is required to have produced a satisfactory research protocol ready for submission to the institution's Biomedical Research Ethics Committee.