Experts to address international conference on health science education

Issued by
Johannesburg, Apr 15, 2015

Experts in their fields are expected to address an international conference on Health Science Education, Leadership and Practice. The conference will be hosted by the North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, Department of Nursing Science, at Birchwood Hotel, in Boksburg, from 15-17 April.

The keynote speaker is Prof Wendy Sword, RN, PhD, who is the Director of the School of Nursing and Associate Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, Canada. She has a longstanding academic career, having been a professor at McMaster University for over 28 years before assuming her role at the University of Ottawa on 1 February 2015.

In recent years, Prof Sword has co-led workshops on problem-based learning in South Africa and Botswana, and she has provided curriculum consultation to the Department of Nursing Science, North-West University (Mafikeng Campus), South Africa.

Other speakers are:

Dr NJ Makhanya, who has worked in numerous settings within the health sector. Initially, as a professional nurse and educator in the Higher Education sector as a lecturer, Dr Makhanya worked for the Provincial Department of Health in KZN as a Head of Ministry, an advisory portfolio to the Provincial Ministry of Health.

Prof Fhumulani Mavis Mulaudzi, Head of Department of Nursing Science and Chairperson of the School of Health Care Sciences at University of Pretoria.

Sarah Lynn Lawson PhD, RN, an Associate Professor at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington at the School of Nursing.

Furthermore, the inclusion of Professor Busisiwe Bhengu, Dr Sipho Mkhize and many others will share their expertise and experiences, support and motivations with regard to health science education, leadership and practice. Topics such as 'Trends in Higher Education: preparing practitioners of the future'; 'Mentoring for Health Care Practitioners'; and workshops such as 'Writing for Publication', 'Proposal Writing for Funding', 'Programme Evaluation' and 'Issues in Implementing Problem-Based and Inquiry Learning' will be shared at this educational conference.