International Students

Note An International student is defined as "not a national" or permanent resident of South Africa, but a national or permanent resident of a SADC (Southern African Development) country, or an accredited diplomatic representative or his/her dependants.

 

Categories of Registration and Procedure for Applications

International affiliate

These registrations provide for any postgraduate student who applies to visit UCT for part of a semester or for one or two semesters to pursue research towards a degree at their home university outside the SADC.

  • Admission requirements: Evidence of registration at a tertiary institution outside the SADC area.
  • Fees: An international fee is payable and is dependent on the number of months at UCT.
  • Routing of application: Via IAPO (UCT's International Academic Programmes Office) to the Faculty Office or the academic Department concerned (depending on the arrangement made by IAPO with the Faculty Office concerned).
SADC affiliate

This category includes students from SADC countries.

  • Admission requirement: Evidence of registration at a tertiary institution inside the SADC area.
  • Fees: Dependent on the number of months at UCT. Fees quoted in Rands.
  • Routing of applications: Via IAPO to the Faculty Office or the academic department concerned (depending on the arrangement made by IAPO with the Faculty Office concerned).
SA affiliate

This provides for any postgraduate level student who applies to undertake research at UCT for part of a semester or for one or two semesters, for the purpose of the degree/diploma for which he or she is registered at another university in S.A.

  • Admission requirement: Evidence that the applicant is studying at another university/ tertiary institution in South Africa.
  • Fees: Dependant on the number of months registered at UCT.
  • Routing of applications: Central Admissions Office to the Faculty Office concerned.
Study Abroad Student

A Study Abroad student is any international student taking three or more postgraduate courses at UCT for one or two semesters only and who does not want to obtain credit or exemption for the course(s) towards a degree at this or any other South African University. This includes International students who are part of a centralised academic programme/exchange.

  • Admission requirement: Evidence that they are studying at another university/tertiary institution. Matriculation exemption not required.
  • Fees: Per semester. Either package tuition fee (including application, tuition and international fee) quoted in US dollars, or, if student is from a SADC country, standard fees payable.

Routing of applications: Via IAPO to the Faculty Office concerned.

Postgraduate Occasional Student

This means any South African or international postgraduate student who wishes to write the examination in a course for purpose of credit. He/she must be registered formally for a course or courses and will pay the full course fees.

  • Admission requirement: First Bachelors degree or equivalent.
  • Fees: Single or block course rates applicable to the Faculty in which registered. International students will pay the international fee.
  • Routing of applications: Via Central Admissions Office to Faculty Office.

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Foreign-qualified doctors

Note This refers to visiting-qualified (i.e. qualified outside South Africa) medical doctors who wish to be employed as doctors in South Africa, or who wish to undergo specialist training at the University of Cape Town.

Visiting-qualified doctors may - in terms of regulations of the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) - be employed as doctors in South Africa only at recognised teaching hospitals and if they are appointed against supernumerary, unpaid registrar (specialist training) posts and given limited registration by the HPCSA. (Foreign-qualified doctors usually request to work in a specific discipline in a teaching hospital in order to undergo specialist-level training. In terms of national legislation, a foreign-qualified doctor may not be paid while working in South Africa in this capacity. The doctor's specialist training will also not be recognised in South Africa since they do not occupy HPCSA-approved registrar posts. However, the doctor will be able to obtain full registration if he/she writes and passes certain examinations - see below).

It is important to note that applications to the HPCSA, and subsequently by the applicant for a work visa, can take months to finalise, however fast and efficiently the Faculty Office deals with such applications. Applicants must therefore usually apply at least six to eight months in advance of a proposed visit.

Regulations pertaining to the registration of visiting qualified medical practitioners
  • No visiting qualified medical practitioner will be considered for internship training in South Africa as from 2001, with the exception of persons from SADC countries which do not have accredited facilities for internship training.
  • No visiting qualified medical practitioner will be considered for Community Service in South Africa as from 2000.
  • In terms of the Regulations pertaining to Community Service, persons wishing to obtain registration in South Africa for the first time in the Category Public Service (General Practitioner), will be required to submit a certificate of proof of completion of Community Service.

 

Obtaining Registration

There are mainly two ways of obtaining registration, namely -

  1. via a pathway which will lead to registration in the Category Independent Practice (General Practitioner), which means that a person so registered shall be unrestricted in terms of such registration, while the duration and scope of his/her practice shall be as specified by the Professional Board.
  2. via a pathway which will lead to registration in the Category Public Service (General Practitioner) which means that such registration shall be restricted in terms of the locality of his/her practice to the public service, while the duration and scope of his/her practice shall be as specified by the Professional Board.

Category Independent Practice (General Practitioner)

Should a practitioner wish to obtain registration in the Category Independent Practice (General Practitioner), he/she should provide the Professional Board with documents specified by the Health Professions Council of South Africa.

On receipt of the required documents, his/her qualification will be assessed by the Examinations Committee of the Professional Board and he/she will be advised of the outcome of the assessment and, should his/her qualification meet the requirements of the Professional Board, he/she may apply to sit for "the examination at the EXIT level of the final South African examination in medicine/dentistry and an ethics and medico-legal assessment at a Faculty of their choice.

Category Public Service (General Practitioner)

Should he/she wish to obtain registration in the Category Public Service (General Practitioner), he/she should provide the Professional Board with certain documents. Please note that he/she must have obtained at least three years' of postgraduate experience in general practice in order to qualify for admission to the Board Examination.

Board Examination

The Board Examination consists of the following two parts:

A written examination which shall provide for
- a medico-legal, ethical, and language assessment;
- an assessment of candidates' knowledge of basic sciences and pathologies applicable to clinical   practice.

An oral and clinical examination which may include an Objective Structured Professional Examination (OSPE).
A candidate would first have to pass the written examination in order to qualify for the oral and clinical examination.

Applicants who wish to write an examination for registration under the categories (i) and (ii) above must contact the Health Professions Council direct at the following address: 
The Registrar, HPCSA, PO Box 205, Pretoria 0001.