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FACULTY OF health scienceS
Department of
Obstetrics and
Gynaecology
Head of Department: Professor
Lynette Denny
Departmental Profile
Our Mission Statement
• To provide high quality care to all women seeking our
services
• To foster a climate of intellectual enquiry
• To pursue excellence in research at every level of care
• To help create a world-class African University
The Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology provides
a wide-range of clinical services. It takes care of over
40 000 women who give birth in our services per year, with
medium and high-risk patients being managed in our level
2 (Mowbray Maternity Hospital, New Somerset Hospital
and Maternity Centre, GSH), and level 3 (Maternity
Centre, GSH) facilities by specialists and sub-specialists.
In addition, we provide comprehensive general and
subspecialist gynaecological care. Outreach is provided
locally to level 1 services as well as to level 2 and 3 in the
South and East Cape.
The Department has a large under-graduate teaching
responsibility, teaching students in all 4 clinical years.
Post-graduate teaching comprises interns, community
and medical officers, as well as specialist and sub-
specialist training.
Research is predominantly clinical and largely aligned
with our four sub-specialist areas: feto-maternal medicine,
gynaecological oncology, reproductive medicine and
urogynaecology. Research is conducted at all levels of
care and comprises participation in large, international,
collaborative trials, cutting edge national research
projects, self-initiated local and collaborative studies,
as well as smaller individual projects. Several important
clinical data bases have been established which provide
valuable information in maternal medicine, gynae oncology
and reproductive medicine. In addition, our Undergraduate
Teaching Unit is actively engaged in education research.
Research supervision is provided at the level of MMed
and MPhil dissertations and PhD theses to registrars, sub-
specialist trainees and staff.
Staff and students
Permanent and long-term contract staff
Professors
2
Associate Professors
5
Senior Lecturers
15
Lecturers (including part-time)
30
Postdoctoral and Research Staff
20
Technical and Support Staff
3
Admin and Clerical Staff
7
Total
82
Students
Doctoral
1
Master’s
35
PG Diploma
Undergraduate
775
Total
811
Research Staff and Research
Expertise
Professor Lynette Denny
Cervical cancer: prevention in low-resource settings;
natural history; precursors in HIV positive women. Other
gynaecological cancers: management of endometrial,
ovarian cancer and advanced vulval cancer. HPV:
prevalence, types; vaccination, DNA typing
Professor Zephne van der Spuy
Contraceptive and interceptive development; Polycystic
ovary syndrome; Reproductive failure; Endocrine dysfunction
in pregnancy; Menopause; Nutrition and reproductive health;
Genetics of benign gynaecological conditions.
A/Professor John Anthony
Thrombophilia; Eclampsia; Bioethics.
A/Professor Silke Dyer
Infertility: health-services in low-resource settings,
psychosocial consequences, quality of life, HIV
A/Professor Susan Fawcus
Maternal mortality; Perinatal mortality; Intrapartum
asphyxia; Magnesium supplementation in pregnancy;
Better Birthing Initiative
A/Professor Athol Kent
Medical education: Reproducible assessment procedures.
Dr Saadiqa Allie
Obstetric hysterectomy; Teenage pregnancy.