Tag Archives: MITS

MRI course attracts local and international students

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A record number of radiographers have registered for the 2018 Magnetic Resonance Imaging (Course) offered by the Department of Medical Imaging and Therapeutic Sciences (MITS).
The department opened their facilities in March to the 58 radiographers who have enrolled for the course this year.

The MRI course is a professional development course offered to qualified radiographers who wish to develop their knowledge and clinical skills in MRI. The first MRI course was offered by CPUT in 2005 and still remains the only postgraduate certificate course offered by a higher education institution in South Africa and Africa.

Upon completion of the MRI course, radiographers can register their qualification with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) as an additional qualification.

The MRI course is largely offered through distance education with academic contact sessions twice a year. This allows radiographers from all over South Africa and Africa to attend. The majority of radiographers this year are from South Africa with the rest from Zimbabwe, Botswana, Zambia and Malawi. Two of the radiographers travelled all the way from the UK and Ireland to attend the course. They will also complete their compulsory 600 clinical hours in the MRI department in these countries.

“MRI is an imaging modality with rapid technological development hence the course contents needs to be reviewed on an ongoing basis to remain current”, says Valdiela Daries, the MRI course convener and lecturer.

“We are fortunate to have the support of radiologists, engineers, application specialists and MRI radiographers who are always willing to share their expertise. Given the structure of the course, we will be using the Learning Management System as an adjunct for delivering the course”, explains Daries.

The MRI students are all permanently employed in either the public or private sector; some are fortunate to be funded by their respective employers. According to Aladdin Speelman, Head of the MITS Department. , the department remains committed to the continuous professional development of radiographers and to cater for the needs of industry.

Happy 80th birthday Groote Schuur

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As Groote Schuur Hospital celebrates its 80th birthday this year, CPUT’s Department of Medical Imaging and Therapeutic Sciences (MITS) is reflecting on its long and proud association with the world-renowned academic hospital.

The hospital was officially opened in January 1938 and was where Chris Barnard and his team performed the world’s first ever heart transplant operation.

Aladdin Speelman, Head of the MITS Department, says Radiography training started at Groote Schuur in the early 1960s under the auspices of the then Department of Health.

The training was later transferred to the former Cape and Peninsula Technikons in 1980.

With the rationalisation of the higher education landscape in the early 1990s, Radiography training was transferred in 1991 to Peninsula Technikon only, with the academic offering and clinical training still taking place on the Groote Schuur and Tygerberg campuses.

In 2014 the MITS Department was established, which resulted in the four hospital-based Radiography programmes being moved to the Bellville Campus.

“CPUT radiography teaching staff work closely with the respective GSH clinical staff in the Departments of Diagnostic Radiography, Ultrasound, Nuclear Medicine and Radiation Oncology overseeing the supervision of students undergoing work integrated learning. Our close symbiotic relationship allows us to train world class radiographers and ultra-sonographers. CPUT greatly values the expert clinical teaching and research support provided by Groote Schuur Hospital for our undergraduate as well as postgraduate Radiography programmes,” says Speelman.

CPUT staff members are still responsible for clinical demonstrations, tutorials and clinical assessments of students which take place in the various clinical departments at the hospital. “We trust that our relationship with Groote Schuur will remain as strong and that the hospital will go from strength to strength.”