North-West University (NWU) has confirmed that construction of the newly accredited Desmond Tutu School of Medicine building at its Potchefstroom Campus has commenced and is expected to be completed by the middle of next year.
The university will establish the school next year following the accreditation of its Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBChB) programme by the Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC) of the Council on Higher Education (CHE).
The six-year, 940-credit programme will be offered in contact mode at the Potchefstroom Campus.
Speaking on YOU FM Newshour, the inaugural Chief Director and Head of the School, Professor Binu Luke, said the decision represented both an institutional achievement and the culmination of an immense collective effort.
“The decision to establish the school was taken by North-West University about two or three years ago, with the blessing of the North West provincial government and the Department of Health. But for any course to start with a university-affiliated degree, one needs to get approval from the Council on Higher Education, which checks our curriculum and the way it will be delivered,” said Luke.
He highlighted that construction of the medical school building had commenced.
“We are hopeful it will be completed in the middle of next year, and we will ensure that medicine lecturers are appointed, including all other multiple processes that have to unfold before we can enrol the first cohort of students and start with the course.
“But again, we are confident that all of those processes will be completed on time next year,” remarked Luke.
Furthermore, the professor said they had an idea of how many students they would enrol when the initial applications open in 2028.
“Our ultimate goal is that we should be able to take 150 students per year, which means over six years we will be training 900 students at a time.
“But realistically, after we are accredited in the first year, we are likely to get approval for about 80 students, which we rapidly plan to increase to 100. Subsequently, as the course matures, we should be able to increase the student intake,” explained Luke.
Luke noted the high demand from students who want to enter the medical field in the country.
“We are acutely aware of the demand for this medical course. Hundreds of students apply, but many of them do not get into medicine in South Africa.
“But our government must be applauded for taking some of them to Cuba, while others go abroad to study medicine in other countries. So, hopefully, this will then at least reduce that dependence on overseas countries to produce doctors for our country,” said Luke.
NWU is also expected to finalise agreements with the University of the Witwatersrand and the National Health Laboratory Service to support the academic, clinical and laboratory components required to train future doctors.
