Celebrating Health Sciences Education Conference 2026

Dr. Feroza Amien is a dentist, dental public health specialist, and lecturer in the Division of Public Health Medicine at the University of Cape Town. Her work focuses on improving patient outcomes through interprofessional education and collaboration, with a particular interest in strengthening collaboration between the medical and dental professions. She is passionate about curriculum transformation and the principles of primary health care and social accountability, which underpin her current PhD research exploring oral health in selected undergraduate medical curricula and the clinical practice of junior medical practitioners in South Africa’s public sector health system.

Clare Davis is a UK-trained registered children’s nurse who moved to South Africa in 2009 to join the Harry Crossley Children’s Nursing Development Unit (CNDU). She was appointed as a lecturer for Africa’s first Postgraduate Diploma in Critical Care Child Nursing and later progressed to lead both the Postgraduate Diplomas in Child Nursing and Critical Care Child Nursing.

Clare now serves as the Education Programme Manager and Instructional Designer for the Unit. Her role is multifaceted but since 2021, she has focused on the design and development of another pioneering initiative: the Essentials of Nursing Children short course suite. These innovative courses are delivered through an asynchronous online model, with the aim of expanding access to training for nurses working with children across the sub-Saharan African region.

Clare also serves on the Unit Executive Committee and is Vice Chair of the Postgraduate Education Committee in the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health. She is currently registered for a PhD, examining the use of online learning to support continuous professional development opportunities for children's nurses across Africa.

My name is Keletso Mongatane, and I am a fourth-year MBChB student at the University of Cape Town. I grew up in Polokwane, Limpopo, and my experiences there have greatly shaped both my interest in medicine and the questions I am drawn to within research.

My current research interests lie in public health and the intersection between healthcare systems, as well as patient and healthcare professionals’ lived experiences. I am particularly interested in how social and systemic factors influence health outcomes and access to care within South Africa, and in using research as a tool to better understand communities and the realities that shape their health. Academically, I am also interested in cardiology and chemical pathology.

Johnathan Muller-Stuurman is a lecturer and convenor of the 3rd Year MBChB Clinical Skills Programme in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Cape Town, where he also serves as co-convenor of the “Becoming a Doctor” theme. As a staff member in the Department of Health Sciences Education, his work is deeply rooted in advancing transformative and contextually responsive approaches to undergraduate medical education.

Johnathan is currently a PhD candidate at UCT, pursuing research titled: Cultivating Reflection in Clinical Skills Training: Toward a Contextualized Learning Framework for South African Undergraduate Medical Education. His doctoral work explores how reflective practice and experiential learning can be meaningfully integrated within clinical skills teaching to deepen student learning and better prepare undergraduate medical students for the realities of clinical practice within the South African healthcare context.

His research is particularly unique in its phenomenographic exploration of how students and clinical educators experience and engage with reflective learning in undergraduate clinical skills medical education. By foregrounding contextual realities such as language, schooling background, and educational culture, his work seeks to challenge and expand traditionally Westernised approaches to reflective teaching in medical education.

This work formed the foundation of his acclaimed conference presentation, “Exploring New Frontiers in Medical Education: A Phenomenographic Approach to Integrating Reflection and Experiential Learning,” which earned him the Audience Choice Award at the DHSE Conference. The presentation resonated strongly with educators for its innovative thinking, authenticity, and commitment to creating more inclusive, meaningful, and transformative learning experiences for future healthcare professionals.