SAQA

All qualifications and part qualifications registered on the National Qualifications Framework are public property. Thus the only payment that can be made for them is for service and reproduction. It is illegal to sell this material for profit. If the material is reproduced or quoted, the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) should be acknowledged as the source.

SOUTH AFRICAN QUALIFICATIONS AUTHORITY

REGISTERED QUALIFICATION THAT HAS PASSED THE END DATE:

Master of Medicine: Neurosurgery

SAQA QUAL ID	QUALIFICATION TITLE
16319	Master of Medicine: Neurosurgery
ORIGINATOR
University of Natal
PRIMARY OR DELEGATED QUALITY ASSURANCE FUNCTIONARY			NQF SUB-FRAMEWORK
CHE - Council on Higher Education			HEQSF - Higher Education Qualifications Sub-framework
QUALIFICATION TYPE	FIELD		SUBFIELD
Master's Degree	Field 09 - Health Sciences and Social Services		Curative Health
ABET BAND	MINIMUM CREDITS	PRE-2009 NQF LEVEL	NQF LEVEL	QUAL CLASS
Undefined	128	Level 8 and above	NQF Level 09	Regular-Provider-ELOAC
REGISTRATION STATUS		SAQA DECISION NUMBER	REGISTRATION START DATE	REGISTRATION END DATE
Passed the End Date - Status was "Reregistered"		SAQA 2663/05	2006-07-01	2009-06-30
LAST DATE FOR ENROLMENT		LAST DATE FOR ACHIEVEMENT
2010-06-30		2013-06-30

In all of the tables in this document, both the pre-2009 NQF Level and the NQF Level is shown. In the text (purpose statements, qualification rules, etc), any references to NQF Levels are to the pre-2009 levels unless specifically stated otherwise.

This qualification is replaced by:

Qual ID	Qualification Title	Pre-2009 NQF Level	NQF Level	Min Credits	Replacement Status
81321	Master of Medicine in Neurosurgery	Level 8 and above	NQF Level 09	128	Complete

PURPOSE AND RATIONALE OF THE QUALIFICATION

This qualification provides graduates with knowledge, skills and applied competence in Neurosurgery sufficient to allow registration with Health Professions Council of SA as a specialist Neurosurgeon It aims to provide graduates with the foundation for continued personal and intellectual growth, gainful economic activity and for contributing to society at large through advanced patient care, innovation, scholarship and leadership in the field of Neurosurgery.

LEARNING ASSUMED TO BE IN PLACE AND RECOGNITION OF PRIOR LEARNING

Completion and award of the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degrees of the University or admitted to status thereof;

Adequate language and communication skills

Adequate numeracy skills.

RECOGNISE PREVIOUS LEARNING?

EXIT LEVEL OUTCOMES

A Master of Medicine in Neurosurgery is able to diagnose, through oral communication, physical examination, and interpretation of appropriate special investigations, and formulate and prosecute treatment options for divergent problems in Neurosurgery in an holistic manner. S/he is able to advise on and implement prophylactic measures to prevent disease relevant to Neurosurgery. S/he is able to interpret scientific literature relevant to his/her field and through reflection adapt new developments in the field of Neurosurgery into his/her clinical practice. S/he is able to conceptualise, plan and implement and interpret research relevant to the practice of Neurosurgery.

Demonstrate academic literacy using the medium of instruction effectively to convey ideas and insight intelligibly and to achieve own communication purposes;

Demonstrate an understanding of statistical data;

Communicate effectively with patient and colleagues

Perform appropriate physical examination;

Choose appropriate special investigations plan and implement treatment options in an holistic manner;

Plan and implement treatment options in an holistic manner

Conceptualise, plan implement and interpret research

ASSOCIATED ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

Interact with text (oral and written) through critical listening/reading skills;

Produce texts which integrate information from different sources using appropriate academic and professional conventions;

Interpret and generate numerical data in various formats;

Apply numerical data to research and clinical practice;

Take a medical history at a level appropriate to the specialty and communicate the findings and treatment options effectively with the patient and referring doctor;

Determine signs and symptoms of disease or injury and perform advanced physical examination appropriate to the level of a specialist field;

Use cost-effective investigations which provide sufficient relevant information to aid diagnosis;

Gather information from various sources, reflect critically on knowledge and information and in consultation with the patient and other health care professions (where appropriate) plan and implement to completion a treatment option

Initiate and complete a research project.

Integrated assessment appropriately incorporated to ensure that the purpose of the qualification is achieved:

The University of Natal is currently reforming its assessment strategies to include the assessment of applied competence for each qualification. In the meantime, a combination of continuous assessment and traditional written examinations serve to assess the integration of all/most of the learning outcomes for each module in a qualification.

ARTICULATION OPTIONS

Vertical articulation is from the Bachelor in Medical and Bachelor in Surgery to either a Doctorate in Medicine or a Doctorate in Philosophy.
Horizon articulation is possible from the qualification process of the College of Medicine of South Africa (Fellow of the College of Medicine Neurosurgery) into this qualification.
The University of Natal Medicine School is the only Medical School in the region
Regional co-operation has been investigated through the Health Science Education and Training Board of the Eastern Seaboard Association of Tertiary Institutions.

MODERATION OPTIONS

The ETQA system for HE is not yet fully developed. Until such time as it is, procedures described under Assessor Criteria suffice.

CRITERIA FOR THE REGISTRATION OF ASSESSORS

Until the HEQC establishes a registration system for assessors in the HET Band, the University of Natal assumes that on the basis of its rigorous selection criteria for the appointment of academic staff (who also have opportunities for staff development in assessment), staffs are competent to assess students on the modules they teach. This assessment is quality assured via a university system of internal moderation and external examination. External examiners are appointed for their teaching and disciplinary expertise and subject to the approval of Faculty Boards. The University of Natal ruling is that 66 % of all assessments at exit level, i.e. leading to qualifications are externally examined.

REREGISTRATION HISTORY

As per the SAQA Board decision/s at that time, this qualification was Reregistered in 2006.

LEARNING PROGRAMMES RECORDED AGAINST THIS QUALIFICATION:

When qualifications are replaced, some of their learning programmes are moved to being recorded against the replacement qualifications. If a learning programme appears to be missing from here, please check the replacement.

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PROVIDERS CURRENTLY ACCREDITED TO OFFER THIS QUALIFICATION:

This information shows the current accreditations (i.e. those not past their accreditation end dates), and is the most complete record available to SAQA as of today. Some Primary or Delegated Quality Assurance Functionaries have a lag in their recording systems for provider accreditation, in turn leading to a lag in notifying SAQA of all the providers that they have accredited to offer qualifications and unit standards, as well as any extensions to accreditation end dates. The relevant Primary or Delegated Quality Assurance Functionary should be notified if a record appears to be missing from here.

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