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Staff

Head of Department: Professor Richard Cooke

Prof. Richard Cooke is the Head of Department of Family Medicine and Primary Care at the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand (Wits). He is also the Director of the Faculty’s Centre for Rural Health. After an early career in finance and project management, Dr Cooke switched to Medicine, qualifying as a specialist Family Physician.

He forged a passion for primary and rural health care during an 8-year stint as the Clinical Manager of Madwaleni Hospital in the Eastern Cape. Joining Wits in 2011, he now chairs the Curriculum Review Committee responsible for the final two years of the Graduate Entry Medical Programme (GEMP), as well as tasked with the directorship of the Wits Nelson Mandela Fidel Castro (NMFC) Collaboration Programme. He supervises the training and research-related activities of students within the GEMP, Clinical Associate, Public Health and Health Systems Sciences programmes, at an undergraduate and/or postgraduate level. Dr Cooke is an examiner for the Fellowship of the College of Family Physicians (FCFP) within the Colleges of Medicine of South Africa.

He is a member of the NMFC National Curriculum Working Group, and serves on the NMFC Ministerial Task Team. He is a Director of the Hospice Palliative Care Association of South Africa. His personal interests include running ultra-marathons.

Contacts:

Email: richard.cooke@wits.ac.za
Tel:+27 11 717 2091

Dr Shabir Moosa
Medical Doctor and Associate Professor

Prof. Shabir Moosa is a family physician with an MBA and PhD. He has extensive experience in rural general practice and the development of family medicine and primary care services in both rural and urban district health services in South Africa and Africa. Shabir is deeply involved in development and research around family medicine and community-oriented primary health care (COPC) in Johannesburg, Gauteng and Africa.

He is President of the African of WONCA (World Organisation of Family Doctors) and facilitator of AfroPHC, bringing African PHC team leaders together to advocate for PHC and UHC.

Prof. Moosa's online profile

ResearchGate
ORCID
LinkedIn
Contacts:

Email: shabir@profmoosa.com
Cell: 0824466825

Dr Joel Francis
Medical doctor, Epidemiologist, and Researcher

I am a medical doctor, epidemiologist, and researcher at the University of the Witwatersrand, School of Clinical Medicine, Department of Family Medicine, and Primary Care.

Prior to joining WITS, I worked as a research scientist with the National Institute for Medical Research in Tanzania and a research fellow with the Department of Global Health and Population at Harvard T.H.Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University.

I hold a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree (equivalent to MBBCh) from the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and an MSc in Epidemiology from Harvard University, USA, and a Ph.D. in Epidemiology from the University of London (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine), UK.

I engage in 1) Research supervision and mentorship of undergraduate, Master, and Ph.D. candidates in Epidemiology, Family Medicine, and Public Health. 2) Health research - areas of interest HIV, Alcohol and Other Drug Use, Mental Health, Implementation Science and Epidemiology (Surveys, Case-Control Studies, Cohort studies, Systematic review and meta-analysis, Cluster Randomized Trials, Randomized Control Trials).

I serve in the editorial boards of three BMC series journals (BMC- Public Health & BMC – Global Health Research and Policy, BMC -Infectious Diseases), the PLOS One journal, a statistical editor for the Health Policy and Planning Journal, an editorial advisor at the BMJ Open journal and the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.

In addition, I have been appointed to the Data Safety and Monitoring Board (DSMB) of two ongoing randomized trials in South Africa and Tanzania.

Contacts:

Email: joel.francis@wits.ac.za
Tel: +27 11 717 2159

Dr. Kyrtania Pather
Lecturer

Dr Kyrtania Pather is a lecturer in the Department of Family Medicine and Primary Care. She holds a PhD in Breast Cancer Cell Biology Research; a Bachelor of Health Sciences in Medical Cell Biology and a Bachelor of Health Sciences in Biomedical Sciences. She has experience in curriculum development, interdisciplinary teaching, supervision and research techniques and skills. 

Dr Pather coordinates Health Systems Sciences 3, teaching final year HSS students about the Health Care System in South Africa and the interdisciplinary teams and processes involved. Her research interests lie within the field of breast cancer, particularly with regard to treatment approaches and their possible outcomes.

Contacts:

Email: kyrtania.pather@wits.ac.za
Tel: +27 11 717 2051

Dr. Aviva Ruch
Lecturer

Dr Aviva Ruch currently holds the position of IPC (Integrated Primary Care) Co-ordinator in the Department of Family Medicine. She comes from a background of 20+ years of general practice in which she successfully provided integrated, holistic and competent care to her patients and their families. As a new participant to the academic fraternity, she is committed to contributing and   assisting in the development of all students in the Faculty.

Contact:

Email: aviva.ruch@wits.ac.za

Deidré Pretorius
Lecturer and Academic Postgraduate Coordinator

Deidré is a lecturer and the Academic Postgraduate Coordinator in the Division of Family Medicine. She teaches social science in medicine, communication and medical counselling in both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. She also has an interest in sexology and clinical consultations. Her initiative and leadership has contributed to the development of an online training program for Registrars in Family Medicine that supported and improved the academic success and throughput rate in the MMed program. Her passion is to improve health care by training doctors who practice holistic medicine.

Her research interests are health communication, social determinants of health, health beliefs, help seeking behaviour, health literacy, sexology, child abuse and intimate partner violence.

 

Email: dedre.pretorius@wits.ac.za 
Te: +27 82 555 3597

Dr. Jurgens Staats
Honorary Lecturer

Dr Jurgens Staats is a Family Physician based in the JB Marks Subdistrict of North West Province. 

As his main interest is in allergies, he holds a Diploma in Allergology and founded a paediatric allergy clinic at Potchefstroom Hospital.  He is also involved in training as an instructor in various emergency medicine courses accredited by the Southern African Resuscitation Counsel.

Contact:

Email: drstaats@gmail.com

Ms Abigail Ruth Dreyer

Lecturer and Programme Coordinator

Abigail Dreyer is a full-time lecturer in the Department of Family Medicine, Division of Rural Health. She has more than 25 years’ experience of working in rural communities in the Western Cape, Free State, Gauteng, North West and Mpumalanga as well as Lesotho and Swaziland. She holds a Bachelor of Arts, Advanced Diploma in Adult Education and a Masters in Public Health. She served as the Chairperson of the Faculty Committee for Community-Based Health Science Education (CoBHSE). She is joint faculty for the Sub-Saharan African FAIMER Regional Institute (SAFRI) which supports medical education. Her teaching is centred on faculty development, undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in the department. Her research interests include collaborative practice, interprofessional teaching and research that contributes to improving the quality of health care in rural and underserved areas.

ORCID profile
Contacts:

Email: abigail.dreyer@wits.ac.za 
Tel: +27 11 717 2438

Ms Aviwe Mgobozi
Clinical Associate Lecturer and BCMP II Course Coordinator

Aviwe Mgobozi is a lecturer in the Division of Clinical Associates. She graduated with a Bachelor of Clinical Medical Practice (BCMP) degree at the University of Witwatersrand in 2011. She obtained a post graduate Diploma in Health Sciences Education from Wits (2016), a Masters degree in Health Professions Education (2019) and is currently pursuing a PhD in Health Professions Education.

She coordinates the second year of the clinical associate programme, supporting curriculum development, teaching students, building educational assessments and providing student support and academic guidance. She is also a member of the International Academy of Physician Associate Educators and a member of the Faculty Interprofessional Education Committee.

She is passionate about health professions education, professional development, interprofessional learning, and reflective educational practices. Her research interests lie in strengthening professional identities, building resilience and building collaborative practices.


Contacts:

Email: aviwe.mgobozi@wits.ac.za
Tel: +27 76 760 5494

Mr Stephen Pentz

   

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