BIOSKETCH
Dr Thandaza Nkabinde is a Family Physician and academic, currently employed at the University of KwaZulu Natal, Department of family medicine as a lecturer/specialist. He is also a Fellow in the College of Family Physicians, under the Colleges of Medicine South Africa (CMSA), and a member of the South African Academy of Family Physicians. He has a Masters degree in Family medicine. He is a PHD candidate, exploring the phenomenon of medical doctors understanding of learning in a rural environment. He has a special interest in rural medicine, thus worked in a rural district hospital for 4 years as a Family Physician prior to joining the university. On joining the university, he was appointed as the academic coordinator of the undergraduate final year medicine rural block/ placement, which places final year medical students for 6 weeks in rural district hospitals.He is a member of the College of health science impairment review committee, and member of the School of nursing and public health teaching and learning committee. His interests in rural medicine further extend into experiential learning in rural district hospitals, thus he is involved in a few projects that look to improve medical education and collaboration in such environments, such as being in the lead team for the “training Clinical Trainers” course through the South African academy of Family physicians. He is also an author of a chapter (How to facilitate small group learning) in the 4th edition of the South African Family Practice Manual, and co-author of a chapter (experiential learning for undergraduate medical students) in the WONCA book titled Family medicine (FM) in the undergraduate curriculum: Preparing medical students to work in evolving health care systems to be released in 2023.From 2019 he has been involved in a project funded through an international grant to UKZN that looks to strengthen interprofessional education (STRIPE) and was appointed as a key personal in the project from 2020. He was appointed as a South African ambassador under AFRIHealth for this program. He is also a key international partner with the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), David Geffen School of medicines’ Global health Program (GHP), having a strong relationship on collaboration exchange for students, lecturing in the GHP selective program, and exploring further research developments. Over and above this, he is a firm believer and advocate for social justice, thus is chairman of a local Durban NPO called Hope Nation (Previously known as KwaCare’), with a vision to see the youth of South Africa educated, equipped and empowered to succeed. He Leads the medical outreach program for Hope Nation, called Hope Medical, which seeks to provide high quality medical services to underserved communities. He is also a Trustee in Umthombo Youth Development, an NPO that funds underprivileged students to go to university to study for health science degrees.
