Congratulations to Associate Professor Tasleem Ras who led a national collaboration involving all nine universities engaged in specialist medical training in South Africa. The team was awarded a substantial R9.8 million grant over three years, announced in December 2022, marking the first time such a significant grant has been received for postgraduate medical education through the University Capacity Development Programme (UCDP).

The UCDP, a Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) initiative, aims to transform teaching, learning, researching, and leading towards enhanced quality, success, and equity in universities. It is funded by the UCD Grant, which is awarded on a three yearly cycle by the DHET. This grant is seen as a consolidation and extension of the Teaching Development Grant and the Research Development Grant that was previously on offer.

 The project aims to build capacity at all participating institutions to implement workplace-based assessment (WBA) in all specialist training programmes. While this is the focus of the project team, the team will also work very closely with key stakeholders such as the South African Committee of Medical Deans (SACOMD) and the Colleges of Medicine of South Africa (CMSA). Other teams are examining the regulatory framework for WBA, the technological infrastructure needed, and the development of learning outcomes, called Entrustable Professional Activities (EPA). This represents a concerted effort to transform medical specialist training in SA to become more student-focussed, contextually relevant, and inclusive.