The Training Institutions of Black African Clinical Psychologists Registered with the HPCSA in 2006

Abstract

The investigation was undertaken to provide an indication of the number of black African clinical psychologists in the country and the institutions that have trained them. The register of Psychologists of the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) was examined to analyse (1) the number of black Africans registered as clinical psychologists, and (2) the universities that trained them. Methodologically this was a challenging exercise, since black African clinical psychologists had to be identified by their names, with the result that a margin of error is expected, albeit rather small. A total of 325 black African clinical psychologists were identified in the HPCSA registers up to November 2006, reflecting 14.2% of all registered clinical psychologists in the country. Fifty-nine (18.2%) of the 325 were trained in the years up to 1994, while the rest (266 or 81.8%) were trained in the years following the official demise of apartheid. Almost one out of six was trained at the Medical University of Southern Africa (Medunsa), which together with the University of the Witwatersrand trained over one quarter of the black African clinical psychologists registered at the time. In total, the historically black universities trained 153 (47.1 %), but in the post- apartheid period from 1995 they trained the majority (136 or 51.1%). The results are discussed in terms of their implications for future training and the broader needs in South Africa.