COPY
DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL, PREVENTIVE AND FAMILY MEDICINE, FACULTY OF MEDICINE, UNIVERSITY OF NATAL, DURBAN.
CONFIDENTIAL.
4th April, 1957.
Dr. E. G. Malherbe,
Principal,
University of Natal,
King George V Avenue,
DURBAN.
Dear Dr. Malherbe,
I am writing this letter after much thought as to the effects on my department of the government’s university education. policy. My views on the more general implications of its intentions for out university and faculty have been made clear at various meetings of heads of departments and of the faculty. Having clarified my position in relation to the principles involved in the government’s intended action, I and my senior colleagues in the department have been able to consider the more specific implications for our own work.
In comparison with other clinical subjects in the curriculum, ours is an innovation which we believe is in harmony with recent advances in medical thinking. To us it represents a significant growing point in medical education based upon a re-evaluation of the role of Medicine in community life and development. The University’s introduction of our subject as a major area of clinical practice in the curriculum was made possible by the sponsorship of the Rockefeller Foundation. The Foundation’s generous assistance must be regarded by us as a means of initiating a project and laying the foundations for its project’s continuation when the medium in which it is being tested is itself threatened with discontinuity.
The government’s intentions, as indicated in their Bill introducing the Separate University Act of 1957, makes any expectation for the furtherance of our work unrealistic. A mere extension of time before the implementation of this Act or any similar measure is in my view no answer to the particular issues now facing my department. It is not only the application of such an Act that
would render our position untenable. The attitude of mind that the initial Bill conveys is of vital concern to us in this department. My personal experience in this regard must be my guide.
The publication of the government’s proposals has had very serious effects on the morale of my staff. While we were part of the Union Health Department we were subjected to constant investigations and criticism, and, as you know, faced recommendations by various commissions that were aimed at our abolition. When we had the opportunity of working within the University and Natal Provincial Administration we felt that we had received a haven of at least comparative safety within which we would be able to pursue our studies and our approach to service. Our hopes were high that at last the tide was turning to allow us to do the work we so much wanted to do.
The Government’s intended actions have shattered all this. Quite frankly, the senior members of my staff and myself now feel
that/ ……
