Health Professions Education (HPEd) Scientific Committee

Overview

The Health Professions Education (HPEd) Scientific Committee is the quality control for health professions education research, especially the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) research, conducted within the North-West University (NWU) and beyond. Experienced researchers and statisticians critically review proposals presented. The Committee provides researchers with meaningful feedback that helps to improve the quality and integrity of their research processes and procedures.

The HPEd Scientific Committee functions within the Centre for Health Professions Education (CHPE). This Committee enjoys support and collaboration from the Health Research Ethics Committee (HREC) and the Research Data Gatekeepers Committee (RDGC) of the North-West University. The Committee also receives technical and fiscal support from the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, the Deputy Dean for Research and Innovation, and the Deputy Dean for Teaching and Learning of the Faculty of Health Sciences.  

Functions of the HPEd Scientific Committee

The Committee performs the following functions:

  • Review degree and non-degree Health Professions Education research proposals from staff and students of the Faculty of Health Sciences, NWU and beyond.
  • Provides balanced, meaningful and constructive feedback and guidance to researchers to improve their research proposals.
  • The Scientific Committee reviews the proposals' scientific quality and recommends to the researchers regarding their HREC and/or RDGC applications.
  • Provide training opportunities for their members.
  • Consult with and guide academics in planning Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Research

Committee Members

Chairperson

Prof Christmal Christmals

Associate Professor

Centre for Health Professions Education

Faculty of Health Sciences

North-West University

christmal.christmals@nwu.ac.za 

Administrator

Ms Paula Jardim

Senior Administrative Assistant

Centre for Health Professions Education

Faculty of Health Sciences

North-West University

paula.jardim@nwu.ac.za

Prof. Jessica Pool

Director, Centre for Health Professions Education

Faculty of Health Sciences

North-West University

jessica.pool@nwu.ac.za

Prof James Avoka Asamani

Team Lead, Health Workforce for the African Region

Universal Health Life Cluster, World Health Organization, Africa Regional Office, Brazzaville, Republic of Congo

Extraordinary Associate Professor, North-West University

Dr Lucé Pretorius

Subject Group Deputy Leader & Senior Lecturer

Community Psychosocial Research (COMPRES) 

Faculty of Health Sciences

luce.pretorius@nwu.ac.za

Ms Sunshine Zenani

Senior Lecturer

School of Nursing

Faculty of Health Sciences

North-West University

sunshine.zenani@nwu.ac.za

Dr Nokwanda E. Bam

Senior Lecturer

School of Nursing

Faculty of Health Sciences

North-West University

edith.bam@nwu.ac.za

Prof Petro Erasmus

Associate Professor

Psychosocial Health: Psychology

Faculty of Health Sciences

petro.erasmus@nwu.ac.za

Prof Yolande Heymans

Associate Professor

Centre for Health Professions Education

Faculty of Health Sciences

North-West University

Yolande.heymans@nwu.ac.za

Dr Susanne Jacobs

Senior Lecturer 

Centre for Child and Youth Studies

Faculty of Health Sciences

North-West University

susanne.jacobs@nwu.ac.za

Prof Anitia Lubbe

Associate Professor

Research Unit Self-Directed Learning

Centre for Health Professions Education

Faculty of Health Sciences

North-West University

anitia.lubbe@nwu.ac.za 

Prof Juliet Nabyonga-Orem

Health Systems Advisor

World Health Organization, Namibia Country Office, Windhoek Namibia

Extraordinary Associate Professor, 

Faculty of Health Sciences

North-West University

Dr Minnet du Preez

Senior Lecturer

School of Physiology, Nutrition and Consumer Sciences

Faculty of Health Sciences

North-West University

minnet.dupreez@nwu.ac.za

Dr Belinda Scrooby

Senior Lecturer

School of Nursing Science

Faculty of Health Sciences

North-West University

belinda.scrooby@nwu.ac.za

Prof Lizane Wilson

Associate Professor

Centre for Child, Youth and Family Studies

Faculty of Health Sciences

North-West University

lizane.wilson@nwu.ac.za

Dr Madeleine Uys

Senior Lecturer

Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy

Faculty of Health Sciences

North-West University

madeleine.uys@nwu.ac.za

Dr Samantha Kahts-Kramer

Senior Lecturer

School of Human Movement Sciences

Physical Activity, Sport and Recreation (PhASRec) Focus Area

Faculty of Health Sciences

North-West University

sam.kahts@nwu.ac.za

Prof Leandi Lammertyn

Associate Professor

Department of Physiology

Faculty of Health Sciences

North-West University

leandi.lammertyn@nwu.ac.za

Dr Cornelia Schreck

Senior Lecturer

School for Human Movement Sciences, Recreation Programme

Faculty of Health Sciences

North-West University

cornelia.schreck@nwu.ac.za

Dr Christiaan Bekker

Senior Lecturer

School of Psychosocial Health

Faculty of Health Sciences

North-West University

christiaan.bekker@nwu.ac.za 

Terms and Reference of Committee Members

  1. All members complete the NWU confidentiality agreement yearly.
  2. Scientific Committee meetings are compulsory. Any member not available for a specific meeting should inform the administrator, Paula Jardim, at least two days before the meeting.
  3. The administrator, in collaboration with the Chair of the Committee, will allocate a proposal submitted to reviewers (members).
  4. All reviewers must review the proposal using the HPEd Scientific Committee checklist (provided with each proposal allocation).
  5. Members are encouraged to consult with the Chairperson if they encounter difficulties reviewing the proposal.
  6. Members will have 14 working days to submit the review report. Reports for expedited reviews should be submitted within seven (7) working days.
  7. The reviewers will present their comments during the Scientific Committee meeting.
  8. The Committee shall decide on the proposal for approval and/or the level of corrections to be made.
  9. The Administrator must communicate the decision and collated comments to the researchers within two (2) working days.
  10. If the reviewers are satisfied with the rebuttal or the proposal at first submission, the Chairperson shall issue a letter of approval to the researchers. If the Chairperson is a researcher, the Deputy Chairperson will chair the meeting.

Figure 1 shows the processes a proposal submitted to the HPEd Scientific Committee goes through.

Figure 1

Application and Review Process

To submit your proposal to the HPEd for review:

  1.  Consult with the Centre for Health Professions Education on the intended study (Optional) (appointments through Ms Paula Jardim - Paula.Jardim@nwu.ac.za)
  2. Access the applicable documents (processes, templates and forms) (Documents can be accessed here)
  3. Write the research proposal on the HPEd proposal template.
  4. Consult with a statistician if the study has a quantitative component.
  5. Submit the final proposal to the Scientific Committee with all the annexures and submission checklist to Ms. Paula Jardim [The nomenclature of the appendices is to allow for easy ethics application preparation].
    1. All similar documents (e.g., signed confidentiality agreement) of researchers should be combined into a single appendix file.
  6. Scientific Committee members review the proposal using the HPEd scientific review checklist (see a PDF copy to guide you).
  7. Researchers must attend the Scientific Committee meeting and present their study using the PowerPoint template provided.
  8. Feedback will be provided within two (2) working days after the Scientific Committee meeting.
  9. The rebuttal process is as indicated in the infographic in Figure 1.
  10. The Chairperson of the Scientific Committee issues an approval letter if the Committee has approved the proposal.

Figure 1

Figure 1

Table 1: Processes, templates and forms

Appendix

Description

Remarks

Appendix A

Cover letter to HPEd Scientific Committee

Use template provided

Appendix B

Submission Checklist

Use template attached

Appendix C

Executive summary

Use template provided

Appendix D

SoTL Research proposal as approved by the small group panel

Use the HPEd proposal template

Appendix E

Signed Code of Conduct for NWU Researchers

Code of Conduct for NWU Researchers must be read and signed by all persons doing the research (gather and analyse the data). This will depend on the nature of your study. All signed codes of conduct must be combined into one (1) PDF and presented as one (1) Appendix.

NWU Code of Conduct for Researchers can be downloaded from the NWU-HREC site at  https://health-sciences.nwu.ac.za/healthethics/HREC/application-notification-forms

Appendix F

Signed NWU Confidentiality Agreements

Everyone involved in the research must read and sign an NWU Confidentiality Agreement.   All signed confidentiality agreements must be combined into one (1) PDF and presented as one (1) Appendix

Appendix G

2-page narrative CVs of researchers involved in the SoTL project

  • Please use the provided template (Appendix G) to guide authors during the writing of their narrative CV
  •   You need a narrative CV for every person doing the research (gather and analyse the data). This will depend on the nature of your study.
  •   All narrative CVs must be combined into one (1) PDF and presented as one (1) Appendix.

A sample Narrative CV can be downloaded from the NWU-HREC site at https://health-sciences.nwu.ac.za/healthethics/HREC/application-notification-forms

Appendix H

Proof of ethics training of the research team

  •  All persons doing the research (gathering and analysing the data) must provide proof of ethics training in the last 3 years and be valid for the entire research.
  •  It is the responsibility of the PI to ensure that all researchers have valid ethics training at all times during the research process. The nature of your study will determine who needs to provide evidence of training.
  •  Should a person's ethics clearance expire before and/or during the research, the person must go through ethics training again.
  • Link to Accredited Ethics Training Site: https://elearning.trree.org/

Complete Modules: 1(Introduction to Research Ethics), 2.1 (Research Ethics Evaluation), 3.1(Informed consent) and South African Specific module.

Appendix I

Roles with responsibilities of research team members and research support team members

Provide an outline explaining the role and responsibilities of each research team member. This includes members of the research team (PI & Co-I) and the research support team.

Appendix?

Informed consent form

Should your research include more than 1 study population, e.g. students, academic staff/faculty management, etc., each population needs its own informed consent form as what/how/when/where, etc., may differ for each study population. The nature of your study will determine the number of appendixes here.

The informed consent template can be downloaded from the NWU-HREC site at https://health-sciences.nwu.ac.za/healthethics/HREC/application-notification-forms

Appendix?

Informed consent checklist for NWU-HREC

We strongly recommend using the NWU-HREC informed consent checklist for each of your informed consent forms to see if you have sufficiently addressed all the aspects and requirements. In the case of more than one informed consent form, each informed consent form must have its own checklist. The nature of your study will determine the number of appendixes here.

The informed consent checklist can be downloaded from the NWU-HREC site at https://health-sciences.nwu.ac.za/healthethics/HREC/application-notification-forms

 

Advertisements or recruitment materials

Advertisements or recruitment materials you will use to approach your participants, e.g. announcements, information pamphlets, PowerPoint, etc., should be included and presented as a separate appendix. The nature of your study will determine the number of appendixes here.

Appendix?

Data gathering instrument(s)

Each data-gathering instrument you will use in your research, e.g. survey / … interview schedule, etc., should be presented as a separate appendix. The nature of your study will determine the number of appendixes here.

Appendix?

Signed letter: Consultation with Statistical Consultation Services (only applicable if working quantitative)

A qualified statistician should be consulted in the proposal development process. This ensures all quantitative assumptions, methods and calculations are aligned and appropriate.

Appendix?

Revised Ethics review checklist

Use the template provided at https://health-sciences.nwu.ac.za/healthethics/hrec-applicant-tools

If applicable

Permission letters from governing bodies to conduct the research

This will depend on the nature of your study.

 

 

Goodwill permission letters

A letter seeking goodwill permission from institutions, individuals or groups of individuals involved in the study is required.

 

Any other applicable documentation, e.g. MOU, contracts with collaborators/laboratories, permits, etc.

 

 

Indemnity form

Use the template provided at https://health-sciences.nwu.ac.za/healthethics/HREC/application-notification-forms

 

Permission from the project leader if a study is done as an affiliated study under another study or a sub-study under a larger study

Use the template provided at https://health-sciences.nwu.ac.za/healthethics/hrec-applicant-tools