Department of Paediatrics and Child Health
Welcome to the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in Johannesburg.
The department, the largest paediatric training unit in South Africa and indeed Southern Africa, spans over six public and one public and private hospital. The public hospitals include three central academic hospitals: Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital (CHBAH), Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital (CMJAH) and Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital (RMMCH), situated in Johannesburg. The other three public institutions are regional hospitals that serve as satellite facilities linked to the department, namely Sebokeng Hospital, Thelle Mogoerane Regional Hospital (TMRH) in Johannesburg and Klerksdorp Hospital in the North West Province. The seventh institution that is now part of the Wits Paediatric training ‘circuit’ since 2021 is the Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital (NMCH). This is a public and private hospital that is based in Johannesburg and is a referral centre for specialised services such as paediatric surgical and neurosurgical care as well as several other neonatal and paediatric subspecialist services.
Given this multi-site network of facilities over 100 paediatric specialists and subspecialists and 90 registrars as well as about 20 fellows at any one time, the training circuit is a much sought-after training institution.
The department offers fulltime undergraduate, post-graduate and subspeciality training. In addition, it also runs master’s programmes in Child Health as well as Child Neurodevelopment.
Undergraduate training is offered to the medical students as part of the Graduate Entry Medical Program (GEMP) as well as the Bachelor of Clinical Medicine students training to be Clinical Associates. The department also offers elective rotations for medical students from within South Africa as well those from other universities across the world.
Postgraduate paediatric training is offered to local and foreign doctors in preparation for the exams for the Fellowship of the College of Paediatricians of South Africa (FC Paed SA) as well as those completing fellowships in the various subspecialties.
The overall Academic Head of Department (HOD) is Prof Ashraf Coovadia, who is also the HOD at the RMMCH (picture).
The HOD at CHBAH is Prof Sithembiso Velaphi (picture).
The HOD at CMJAH is Prof Mphele Mulaudzi (picture).
The HOD at Sebokeng Hospital is Dr Thapelo Theletsane (picture).
The HOD at TMRH is Dr Ann Abraham (picture).
The HOD at Klerksdorp Hospital is Dr Omphile Mekgoe (picture).
The HOD is NMCH is Prof Hopewell Ntsinjana (picture).