← Back to Social Responsiveness
The "Papers with Purpose" programme empowers and supports early career researchers from across the African continent to publish impactful Health Professions Education research.
Health Professions Education (HPE) is a powerful field with impact that extends from educational contexts to health systems and patient care. Whilst educational and health inequities remain in the global South, HPE seeks to transform these realities through quality postgraduate training and scholarship. In Southern Africa, HPE research is rapidly growing; however, graduates with formal educational qualifications and scholarly outputs remain low in comparison to those of the global North.
The implications of this skewed global knowledge hierarchy are significant for knowledge production, educational outcomes and patient care. Without a foundational southern knowledge base, educators and healthcare providers will continue to turn to northern conceptualisations of 'best practice' that are often culturally inappropriate and contextually ineffective. Papers with Purpose seeks to address this imbalance through a purpose-designed programme of research writing workshops, mentoring participants to publish their scholarship and conference participation, strengthening the networks and knowledge base of early career HPE researchers from Southern Africa.
Award We received the Research Culture Award, recognising our contribution to a positive, inclusive and equitable research culture. Read the UCT News story → Oxford announcement → ► Listen to the podcast
Our cohorts
Cohort 1: Eileen Du Plooy, Mpho Mogodi, Dr Danelle Hess, Alice Sagwidza-Tembe, Jacob Kumakech and Jill Wilkenson.
Cohort 2: Ray Pillay, Valentine Khumalo, Rebecca Coetzee, Charlotte Manzana, William Sebealo, Rosaley Prakashandra, Nomusa Sikhakhane, Tasneem Ajam, Pholoso Nyalungu, Keshena Naidoo, Vuzi Ntywankile, Fungai Muzeya, Mahlako Makhubela, Nomonde Kunene, Else Smit, Aviwe Mgobozi, Jodie Layman-Lemphane, Cara de Moura, Nancy Barber, Atholl Kleinhans, Ngozi Orazulike and Nombulelo Zenani.Project details Start: April 2024 End: April 2026 Funder: The British Academy Partner: University of Oxford
Project team Natashia Muna (UCT)
Taahira Goolam Hoosen (UCT)
Lynelle Govender (UCT)
Francois Cilliers (UCT)
Danica Sims (Oxford)
Taahira Goolam Hoosen (UCT)
Lynelle Govender (UCT)
Francois Cilliers (UCT)
Danica Sims (Oxford)
Participant publications
2024 cohort
- Kumakech, J., Munabi, I.G., Mubuuke, A.G. et al. 2025. Exploring the perception of medical students and lecturers on the consequential validity of medical long case. BMC Medical Education, 25, p.588.
- Hess, D., Hendricks, J., Franz, J., Rowe, M. 2025. Student and educator perspectives on clinical reasoning: A qualitative study. South African Journal of Physiotherapy, 81(1), p.2161.
- Du Plooy, E., Casteleijn, D., Franzsen, D. & Ramkilawon, G. 2026. Entry Requirements as Predictors of Early Academic Success and Student Performance in Undergraduate Occupational Therapy Education. Journal of Occupational Therapy Education, 10(2), p.1-32.
2025 cohort
- Layman-Lemphane, J.I., Correia, J., Meyer, I. and Khan, J. 2026. Lessons learnt: perceptions of health sciences students of blended anatomy education at Stellenbosch University during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Anatomical Sciences Education, 19(2), p.352-366.
- Zenani, N., Scholtz, S. and Heymans, Y. 2026. A Review of Continuous Professional Development Programmes for Interprofessional Competencies of Intensive Care Teams. Axiom Academic Publishers, 1 (ISBN: 978-1-991239-44-0).
- Zenani, N., Scholtz, S. and Heymans, Y. 2026. Nature of Continuous Professional Development Programmes Aimed to Enhance Interprofessional Competencies of Intensive Care Teams: Perceptions of Intensive Care Unit Professionals, North West Province, South Africa. Axiom Academic Publishers, 1 (ISBN: 978-1-991239-44-0).
- Zenani, N.E., Scholtz, S., Heymans, Y. and Christmals, C. 2025. Interprofessional Competencies for Effective Interprofessional Collaborative Practices Amongst Intensive Care Unit Teams in the North West Province, South Africa: A Cross-Sectional Survey. Health Services Insights, 18, p.11786329251391944.
- Seabelo, S.W. and Vink, H.J.A. 2026. The institutional barriers in facilitating effective preceptorship of undergraduate nursing students at a hospital cluster in Gauteng, South Africa. Gender and Behaviour, 24(2).
- Kunene, N. and Ehlert, K. 2026. Exploring the use of immersive virtual reality for health sciences education: A scoping review. African Journal of Health Professions Education, p.e4421.