The physician-scientists: rare species in Africa
Date
2018Author
Adefuye, Anthonio Oladele
Adeola, Henry Ademola
Bezuidenhout, Johan
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
There is paucity of physician-scientists in Africa, resulting in overt dependence of clinical practice on research findings from advanced "first world"
countries. Physician-scientists include individuals with a medical degree alone or combined with other advanced degrees (e.g. MD/MBChB and PhD)
with a career path in biomedical/ translational and patient-oriented/evaluative science research. The paucity of clinically trained research scientists
in Africa could result in dire consequences as exemplified in the recent Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa, where shortage of skilled clinical
scientists, played a major role in disease progression and mortality. Here we contextualise the role of physician-scientist in health care
management, highlight factors limiting the training of physician-scientist in Africa and proffer implementable recommendations to address these
factors.