UKWANDA CENTRE FOR RURAL HEALTH

BACKGROUND

Ukwanda is a Nguni word meaning “to grow"; in accordance with this, growth, development and progress are core pillars utilised by the centre to promote health care in rural communities through intentional and relevant student, staff, and community collaborations. Based on international models, the Ukwanda Centre for Rural health (CRH) was launched in 2002 and later opened a rural clinical school based in Worcester in 2011, another first in South Africa. The rural clinical school initially focused on medical students, but other programmes soon followed suite, with Dietetics, Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy, and Speech-Language and Hearing Therapy joining in 2013. The placement of students in distributed rural locations was intended both to provide students with the skills for rural health care and to acclimatise students to rural communities and lifestyles. The exposure would in turn encourage the option of practising in rural and underserved communities after graduation.​