Specialist family physicians SFPs are primary care specialists. Like all other medical specialists in South Africa, they have four years of postgraduate training and a compulsory fellowship examination through the Colleges of Medicine of South Africa, following the same path as paediatricians, anaesthetists, psychiatrists, surgeons and gynaecologists.
But, despite being registered with the Health Professions Council of South Africa as specialists, medical aids often consider them as general practitioners reimbursing them as such and limiting specialist privileges like ordering CT scans for patients.
In this op-ed, SFP Sheena Mathew argues that limits their ability to fully practice their speciality, with patients paying the ultimate price.
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COMMENT
What I love about being a specialist family physician SFP is getting to play Sherlock Holmes every day. The mystery is always a mind or body symptom, but the culprit could be any organ, and the breadcrumb clues could be any symptom, any bodily sign.
