The maldistribution of health carepersonnel in the urban population
groups compared to the rural population

group has existed for several generations.

Fortunately especially after the advent

of democracy, transformation in the

health sector is fast becoming a reality.

Physiotherapy with its associated

benefits is unknown to the vast majority

of our people.  Our urgent strategy 

therefore must be to put into preparation

an effective programme geared to

redressing this untenable imbalance.

Viewed against this imbalance we

should take a positive approach to 

the proposed extension of compulsory 

community service for physiotherapy

graduates as from 2003.  Physiotherapists,

whose university education is heavily

subsidized by the state, should welcome

community service as an opportunity to

repay the taxpayers contribution to his

professional development.

Community service for physiothe-

rapists is a positive move aimed at 

ameliorating the maldistribution of 

rehabilitation services by extending

physiotherapy skills to the rural areas.

The profession in general and the 

physiotherapy graduates in particular

should view this as a move in the 

right direction, both to improve service

delivery to the needy areas and as a 

challenge which will enhance the 

skills and scope of practice of the newly

qualified graduates.

In addition all training institutions

will have to re-examine urgently the

undergraduate curriculum in order to

ascertain whether their training pro-

gramme adequately prepares the newly

qualified graduate to cope with the 

challenges of working in possibly remote

locations without any supervision.

Although there has been a significant

move in recent years towards com-

munity skills in undergraduate training,

the challenge now is to further sharpen

this focus in order to make it more 

relevant to the reality of compulsory

community service of all new graduates.

Compulsory community placement for

all future physiotherapy graduates is 

an exciting challenge.  After all, and we

can learn from the precedent set by the

Medical, Dental and Pharmacy profes-

sions, which initially viewed community

service with suspicion but later embraced

the requirement as a positive contri-

bution to perfecting the training of 

their graduates.

Finally, we must work together to

urge the Department of Health to 

help implement community service by

preparing the ground in several ways.

They need to face up to thorny issues

such as providing accommodation, and

equipment, in areas where these do 

not exist.  Most important of all, it

should address the whole salary structure

of physiotherapists.  The salary scale of

physiotherapists is definitely not on par

with that of other graduates in the field

of Health Sciences.

The encouraging signal is that

government’s decision to introduce

compulsory community service for

physiotherapists is in itself an indication

that it is willing to bring the profession

into the mainstream of health care in

South Africa.

PROFESSOR GOUNDEN

G U E S T
E D I T O R I A L

EDITOR:
- C.J. Eales, PhD

University of the Witwatersrand

ASSISTANT EDITOR:
- A. Stewart, MSc

University of the Witwatersrand 

EDITORIAL BOARD:
NATIONAL MEMBERS
- S.L. Amosun, PhD

University of the Western Cape
- P. Gounden, PhD

University of Durban-Westville
- M. Papadoupolos, MSc

University of Pretoria
- M. Faure, MPhil

University of Stellenbosch
- N. Mbambo, MSc

MEDUNSA

INTERNATIONAL MEMBERS
- A. Akinpelu, PhD

University College Hospital,
Ibadan, Nigeria

- T.H.A. Kolobe, PhD
University of Illinois, Chicago  

- K. Shepard, PhD
Temple University, Philadelphia

- C. Partridge, PhD
University of Kent, Canterbury

REVIEW PANEL:
- Amosun, Dele
- Bester, Ria
- Bischof, Faith
- Bowerbank, Pat
- Crous, Lynette
- David, Helen
- Diener, Ina
- Eksteen, Carina
- Eisenberg, Mashe
- Faure, Mary
- Fearnhead, Lynn
- Frieg, Annette
- Giraud, Jill
- Hunter, Linda
- Irwin-Carruthers, Sheena
- Kemp, Stephanie
- M’kumbuzi, Vyvienne
- Mothabeng, Joyce
- Mpofu, Ratie
- Papadopoulos, Magda
- Paulsen, Tom
- Potterton, Joanne
- Puckree, Lina
- Smith, Elsa
- Van Rooijen, Tanya

2          SA JOURNAL OF PHYSIOTHERAPY 2002 VOL 58 NO 2

COMMUNITY SERVICE
FOR PHYSIOTHERAPISTS