17         December 2009, Vol. 1, No. 1  AJHPE

    Letter

To the Editor: I wish to use this opportunity to introduce readers of the 
African Journal of Health Professions Education to the MPhil in Health 
Sciences Education (HSE) programme that has been offered by the Cen-
tre for Health Sciences Education (CHSE), Faculty of Health Sciences, 
Stellenbosch University, since 2008, in collaboration with the Faculty 
of Education and the Centre for Teaching and Learning at the same uni-
versity.

The programme was developed with assistance from educational 
experts from all the above-mentioned environments as well as Profes-
sor Peter Bouhuijs, Professor Emeritus of Medical Education, Maastricht 
University, and Extraordinary Professor, Stellenbosch University.

The 2-year programme is offered in mixed-mode format as either 
a structured or research Masters degree. A week-long face-to-face con-
tact session takes place at the beginning of each of the 2 academic years  
(February) at the CHSE.  The remainder of the programme is offered by 
way of distance learning using the WebCT/Blackboard platform. 

The structured programme is modular, with 12 modules presented 
over the 2 years, including one elective module per year.  A research  
assignment in the final year carries 60 of the programme’s 180 SAQA 
credits.  The other modules are all assessed by way of written assign-
ments.

There are currently 26 students enrolled in the programme – students 
from all parts of South Africa as well as Botswana, Ghana and Pakistan. 
They are all part-time students and represent a spectrum of health profes-
sionals, including nurses, speech-language and hearing therapists, physio- 
therapists, medical doctors, etc. in the public and private sectors and at all 
managerial levels, including one dean.

The programme has recently received the honour of being recog-
nised by the Foundation for the Advancement of Medical Education and 
Research (FAIMER) (http://www.faimer.org/) in the USA as one of four 
such programmes worldwide for which FAIMER fellows and fellows of 
its four regional institutes can enrol with a scholarship from FAIMER.  
The other three programmes are offered by the universities of Maastricht, 
Dundee and Chicago-Illinois.

Readers can obtain more detailed information about the programme 
at http://www.sun.ac.za/chse or by writing to me at bbvh@sun.ac.za.

Professor Ben van Heerden
MPhil in HSE Programme Coordinator 
Director, CHSE 

Information about the MPhil in Health Sciences Education at 
Stellenbosch University