Discipline of Family Medicine

BIOSKETCH
Bernhard Gaede is a family physician currently appointed as Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Family Medicine at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) in South Africa. Prior to this appointment, he was the Director of the Centre for Rural Health at UKZN. He worked in rural hospital settings for well over a decade prior to joining UKZN, the bulk of it in the Bergville area, KwaZulu-Natal. He was deeply involved in the setting up of the anti-retroviral treatment program in the mid-2000s, working with traditional healers, home-based carers, and community structures. He has also been actively involved in the Rural Doctors Association of Southern Africa and the Rural Health Advocacy Project, with a strong focus on policy development and advocacy.Bernhard completed his medical undergraduate studies at the University of the Witwatersrand and qualified as a family physician from MEDUNSA in 2004. In 2014 he completed his PhD through the University of Pretoria, focusing on the experiences and challenges of health professionals working in the public sector bureaucracy. He is also a SAFRI/FAIMER fellow and is actively focusing on health professions education, curriculum development, and community engagement. Areas of research and publication include healthcare systems, community-level care, and medical anthropology.