A trial model for medical subspecialty training in South Africa.

This article outlines the trial model in reproductive medicine that was created as a first step in the development of a business model for medical subspecialty training to complement the current academic subspecialty training in South Africa. A two-tiered training model was developed over time. The hurdles that had to be overcome were the development of a curriculum and academic capacity, acquisition of appropriate funding, acceptance and accreditation of the decentralised training facility, and lastly, registration of the fellowship with the Health Professions Council of South Africa. The end result of the trial programme was a two-year full-time training with supportive funding, or a four-year programme, where the subspecialists would spend three weeks of the month in their home practice environment, attached to an accredited unit, and the last week in an academic institution. Due to the trial program's success for the South African context and the potential of such model for the developing world, it was evident that the trial programme had to be tested to determine whether and how it can be implemented on a wider basis.

South African Menopause Society revised consensus position statement on menopausal hormone therapy, 2014.

The South African Menopause Society (SAMS) consensus position statement on menopausal hormone therapy (HT) 2014 is a revision of the SAMS Council consensus statement on menopausal HT published in the SAMJ in May 2007. Information presented in the previous statement has been re-evaluated and new evidence has been incorporated. While the recommendations pertaining to HT remain similar to those in the previous statement, the 2014 revision includes a wider range of clinical benefits for HT, the inclusion of non-hormonal alternatives such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and serotonin noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors for the management of vasomotor symptoms, and an appraisal of bioidentical hormones and complementary medicines used for treatment of menopausal symptoms. New preparations that are likely to be more commonly used in the future are also mentioned. The revised statement emphasises that commencing HT during the 'therapeutic window of opportunity' maximises the benefit-to-risk profile of therapy in symptomatic menopausal women.